Which countries are involved in the Iran-US war? What to know.

Kate Perez
USA TODAY
March 4, 2026, 1:05 p.m. ET

The war between the United States and Iran continues to escalate and pull in other Middle Eastern countries and beyond into the conflict, which launched when the U.S. and Israel began strikes on Iran early Feb. 28 in a campaign that killed the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of top officials and hit more than 1,250 targets inside the country.

While the war began specifically between the U.S., Israel and Iran, other countries are entering the conflict as it becomes more geopolitically complicated. While some Middle Eastern U.S. military bases have been targets of strikes, other countries and U.S. allies are defending against drone attacks, including France, the United Kingdom, and Greece.

Here's what we know about which countries are involved with the conflict.

What countries are involved in the war?

More countries have quickly gotten involved with the war following the initial strikes on Feb. 28. Multiple areas in the Middle East, including Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, Saudia Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, have been targets or intercepted attack drones, missiles and bombers.

As previously reported by USA TODAY, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. allies in the Middle East have been shooting down missiles and drones with precision, while Iran fired more than 500 missiles and launched 2,000 drones indiscriminately.

Jordanian air defenses intercepted a cluster of one-way attack drones headed to Oman, Caine said. Bahrain’s air defense forces shot down an in-bound drone heading toward the capital of Manama’s maritime infrastructure, to protect their shipping lanes. Saudi Arabia’s Patriot batteries stopped a salvo of ballistic missiles aimed at energy facilities. The United Arab Emirates neutralized multiple drones targeting Abu Dhabi’s industrial zone. Qatari fighters shot down two Iranian bombers.

“Together these nations are helping to defend themselves and project power as required against the enemy,” Caine said.

Attacks have also hit some of those countries' cities and U.S. bases including in Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait, where four American soldiers were killed in an unmanned aircraft attack on March 1 on Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. All four were with a Des Moines Army Reserve unit. U.S. military officials are investigating the attack.

Multiple European countries have also joined the fray, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Greece, after drones struck the British Royal Air Force Akrotiri base in Mediterranean Cyprus. The U.K., France and Greece pledged to deploy forces following the attack, including anti-missile and anti-drone systems as well as air defenses and warships.

Following the attack, the Britian Ministry of Defense confirmed March 3 that forces shot down multiple drones in Iraqi, Jordanian, and Qatari airspaces.