Data Sources: Live Updates via CNN, BBC News, Al-Jazeera, UN, CBS News, AP, and the Boston Herald. Data Visual: Semmi W.

In less than three days, the Middle East has veered towards a broader, more violent conflict. Israel unleashed Operation Rising Lion, dispatching around 200 aircraft to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities, killing military leaders, scientists, and civilians. Hours later, Iran declared it an act of war and responded with more than 100 missiles and drones. Most were intercepted. One missile or drone (reports vary), fired from Yemen and aimed at Jerusalem, landed instead in Hebron; a town in the West Bank where Israel had just sealed off checkpoints, trapping nearly 3 million Palestinians.

Iran, already under censure from the IAEA (the UN’s nuclear watchdog), has also announced that it would accelerate its enrichment program and construct a third nuclear facility. Meanwhile, the U.S. (with roughly 40,000 troops already stationed across the region) helped intercept incoming projectiles and rerouted naval destroyers to protect strategic U.S./Israeli assets. U.S. administration officials along with President Trump initially denied prior knowledge or involvement in the Israeli strike. But later, both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that the operation had been planned in advance.

Trump also publicly warned Iran on Friday, suggesting it still had time to alter its nuclear program, all while Israel launched a second wave of attacks.

The U.N. conference on Palestinian statehood—co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia (scheduled next week in New York) has been postponed. A U.S.–Iran diplomatic meeting in Oman was also abruptly canceled (for obvious reasons), leading some to view the proposed talks as a diplomatic head fake—and Wednesday’s U.S. evacuation order as an early sign of what was to come.

Saudi Arabia issued a rare public statement calling for mutual restraint and peace. France and Germany affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense but urged the need to avoid a violent, regional crisis. As a power player, China has expressed deep concern while maintaining neutrality. Crisply warning that strikes serves no one’s interest, pledging “to play a constructive role” in brokering de-escalation.

But energy markets are rattled. With over 20 million barrels of oil and gas passing daily through Iran’s Strait of Hormuz, this isn’t just a regional crisis—it’s a global one.

Double-check your price at the pump. It may not be World War III, as some on social media are calling it—but please… brace yourselves.

See the full timeline above, and let me know what you think below.

Memo: The events are listed as of June 13, 2025 at 10:30PM ET.

Thanks for reading. :) More visuals and stats to come on GFW. Subscribe below for more data.— Semmi W.