Talk:Prelude to the 2026 Iran war

If there are any maps/infographics please add and share.

If you have found any maps/infographics/photos, feel free to add them to this article and please share.

Thanks, Globetrotter30 (talk) 09:34, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

I reiterate asking editors to add maps to the infobox and images to sections.

Thanks, Globetrotter30 (talk) 18:03, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

Generally unencyclopedic tone

Much of this article currently is not written in the style expected of Wikipedia. There's a lot of use of the present tense where it isn't appropriate, and several references to weekdays (e.g. Wednesday.) I went through and removed some of these, but more work needs to be done. TheChestertonian (talk) 16:28, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

Acknowledged.

Thanks, Globetrotter30 (talk) 18:05, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

The language might not be neutral as well. Alimsts (talk) 11:08, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

No mention of China's involvement and support for Iran

It's somehow troubling that the article does not mention the fact about the involvement of the Chinese defense industry and government in the unrest through actual (not vocal) support for Iran.

Exclusive: Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China from Reuters and Is China flexing its intelligence muscle by tracking US military moves near Iran? from the South China Morning Post as proofs. JWilz12345 (Talk|Contrib's.) 05:11, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Nothing's stopping you from adding it yourself. 9ninety (talk) 13:46, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Missing content

saudia arabia has been attacked. Also the IDF has already taoen action against Iran so if someone could add these bits of info it would be good TechMaster360 (talk) 09:55, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

WP:NOTNP: The events unfolding have only occurred over the last couple of hours, so editors would a) not have had the time to add this content and b) would be waiting for enough reliable sources to report on it. Conflicts like this are contentious, so extra vigilance needs to be taken before content is added to ensure it can accurately describe events. Mitchsavl (talk) 10:09, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Move

Why was it moved? Shouldn't it remain its own article and if anything 2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran become the war? Braganza (talk) 10:09, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Makes sense. If we should move this article it would be to "Background to the Iran–United States war" rather than the war article itself (2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran sounds better suited to it). Ruzhiner (talk) 10:15, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

@Braganza I agree Renascitur (talk) 10:43, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Dude, they’re literally trying to assassinate the supreme leader of Iran and the president (according to Israel), dropping an insane amount of bombs, Iran is launching strikes on numerous air bases, while the president of the United States is telling Iranians that once they are done bombing to overthrow the government. This is literally the example of a war. What do you mean ‘become the war’? Opama420 (talk) 10:54, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

@Opama420 you really miss the point, this article was created weeks ago and just renamed to war for no reason. Braganza (talk) 10:58, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Are you sure it was just the title? I’m looking at it right now and it has the template and everything about the war? Opama420 (talk) 11:03, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

what are you talking about, this article was created for the crisis before the war and someone just moved it and changed the infobox while there is Talk:2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran#Let's discuss a name change. Braganza (talk) 11:06, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Yes. User:Opama420 unilaterally decided to change the title from 2026 Iran–United States crisis. The title should be changed back to 2026 Iran–United States crisis. (ping @Opama420:) Mgkrupa 11:09, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

I did not change it at first, I saw it was labeled war, then renamed to crisis and thought that was done unilaterally, as the war title remained for for over 30+ minutes Opama420 (talk) 11:12, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Is this your first time at this article? You really did not know it's been called 2026 Iran–United States crisis for ages? Mgkrupa 11:16, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

@Hildeoc: was the first one Braganza (talk) 11:15, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

back to crisis please 4-RΔ𝚉🌑R-01𝕏 (talk) 11:14, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Unnecessary move, needed to be backed to 2026 Iran–United States crisis Ahammed Saad (talk) 11:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

It's been move protected for a week. Fences&Windows 11:31, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

I have moved the page back to 2026 Iran–United States crisis, after it had a series of undiscussed moves and reverts. I have also move protected it for a week. I encourage the parties involved to talk before acting. - Fuzheado | Talk 11:32, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Maybe a good way to end it, is to create a third article which is about the military conflict (airstrikes & Iranian retaliation) specifically and we keep the articles on the strikes focused on the American-Israeli strikes. Braganza (talk) 11:47, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

• A reader (such as myself) attempting to find the Wikipedia article on the war will find this one bizarre and confusing. It definitely needs to be addressed, perhaps through a merger. Coretheapple (talk) 14:26, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

  @Coretheapple i fully agree with you, the current situation is a mess. For some reason Talk:2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran#Requested move 28 February 2026 is still going.... Braganza (talk) 10:33, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

It is a war

I really feel like we do not have to have an entire editing war and discussion about if this is a war or not. If we really have to, it will be the biggest waste of everyone’s time because this is clearly a war. Opama420 (talk) 10:53, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

That's why it got protected Alimsts (talk) 11:30, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Support. This is a clear war and we should do the needful ~2026-61170-1 (talk) 15:29, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Show the hidden parts of 'International Reactions'

A good source might be https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn5ge95q6y7t. Alimsts (talk) 11:05, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

can someone display the hidden UK and Middle east sections in international reactions? Alimsts (talk) 12:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Move page War (should protect page)

I propose protecting this page for at least a month due to repeated moves without consensus. Alimsts (talk) 11:24, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

 Done for a week. Fuzheado | Talk 11:26, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

You should probably make it more visible for people Alimsts (talk) 11:27, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

We overlapped in this action. I'd applied two days, so redid it for a week. Fences&Windows 11:28, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Good 4-RΔ𝚉🌑R-01𝕏 (talk) 11:32, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

LLM tag

User:JaxsonR, you tagged this as likely containing LLM-generated text on 17 Feb. The next day, a now-blocked account made an edit that said it was removing such text. Has this and subsequent editing removed the text you were concerned about? Fences&Windows 11:25, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Yeah my main concern was the very-AI like endings to almost every sentence i.e. " further complicating the government's efforts to project unity during a period of heightened international tension" JaxsonR (talk) 01:19, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Recent Changes

Saudi Arabia has fired back at Iran in retaliation for the attacks, also Jordan has by now also bee attacked by Iran multiple times. TechMaster360 (talk) 12:24, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 28 February 2026

Template:Edit extended-protected 2 ballistic missiles were gonna hit Jordan but they successfully shot them down, add them to the "Attacked:" section in the infobox https://www.iranintl.com/en/202602285934 ~2026-78567-5 (talk) 12:32, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

•  Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ^{(Although it should be noted the lack of clarity here might be due to the article having changed significantly since the request was made.)}―Maltazarian ^{(talk<math>\lor</math>investigate)} 19:52, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

What might be the "Real" reason for this war?

How about that? A ton of information on the Epstein case was released, and WOW does it look awful for Trump! But wait a minute, Holy Cow, Trump must had asked Clinton how to WAG THE DOG! With the release of even more info on the Epstein Case, let us not shove under the carpet, the possibility that this awful war is only about distracting the VOTERS (This is an Election year, remember) from those awful unpatriotic Epstein files. The tone may be sarcastic but this post is really not sarcastic: however I believe I made my point. Epstein Files are released that could down Trump's Presidency and wham! A sudden Wag the Dog! (At least maybe add "Wag the dog" as alternate reason for going to war?)

I am MagnummSerpentinee (talk) 13:04, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Merge proposal

I propose merging 2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East into 2026 Iran-United States crisis, as there's significant overlap between these two topics, and there's already a subsection dedicated to that here PortugueseWikiMan (talk) 13:21, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

this page is about the negotiations + the resulting war while the other page is spesificly about the attack itself. The two are related but this is the wide scope oage while the other is more specific on the attack itself. TechMaster360 (talk) 14:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

@TechMaster360 no, i meant the military buildup page, not the attacks one PortugueseWikiMan (talk) 13:22, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Children killed claim

The claim of children killed comes from Iranian state media. Either it should be removed or be qualified with (Per Iran) or (Per Iranian State Media) Revolver guy (talk) 13:42, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Why? Information from USA and Israel is just as riddled with Propaganda as that from Iran. I say we post a notice that Information, and News from ALL parties involved might be misleading and Propaganda. That sounds better eh?

I am MagnummSerpentinee (talk) 18:50, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Deaths of soldiers claim

5 soildiers is just the recorded deaths. I propose that it should say 5 recorded deaths and the estimated deaths and wounded too. That would make more sense. However, i'm not the owner so you do you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-13182-03 (talk) 15:40, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Is International reactions still relevant/ Does International reactions need other countries

The international reactions should be moved or renamed as it has little relevance to the initial Iran protests, only the strikes, and the content is about heightened tensions between the US and Iran. And if relevant, it probably needs more reactions as it is mainly focused on the EU and not the Middle East. Alimsts (talk) 14:24, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:00, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 28 February 2026 (4)

Template:Edit extended-protected Saudi Arabia has declared it will join the war, the hoothies have attacked saudi arabia in response fighting has started thus they should be moved from attacked nations to belligerents

Ref example: https://modern.az/en/dunya/574890/saudi-arabia-joins-attacks-against-iran/ TechMaster360 (talk) 16:14, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

•  Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ―Maltazarian ^{(talk<math>\lor</math>investigate)} 08:17, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Crisis or war?

Curious why this armed conflict is called a "crisis", while the armed conflict that erupted simultaneously right next door (2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war) is called a "war". ~2026-13188-33 (talk) 16:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

It is clearly a war. It is clearly initiated by the U.S. and Israel, and it is on Iran. No matter what the justification nor rationale, it is a war on the existing regime in power in Iran, and that is the IRCG.

I don't really know why modern ppl are so reticent to use clear English and call a war, a war. N2e (talk) 20:09, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Move to "prelude to 2026 iran conflict"?

Given how this has turned into a conflict and superseded this crisis, would it be fair to argue for moving this article and labelling it as a prelude to the conflict? We did this with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Onegreatjoke (talk) 16:17, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Iran attacks Arab nations?

Iran attacked American bases in those Arab nations, not their cities or armies. it looks as if Iran is on a invasion streak when that's actually Israel and USA. How you word things is important. let's be objective as much possible Kayrathenomad (talk) 19:31, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

I've seen videos of Iranian drones flying directly into civilian apartment complexes. Iran is very much on an invasion streak, they're far from an innocent helpless victim here. Nousername46000 (talk) 03:35, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

@Nousername46000 yes I've seen the videos later, my bad. but Iran is still the victim and invaders are someone else. don't forget, us-israel alliance started all this. Kayrathenomad (talk) 11:06, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Requested move 28 February 2026

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved to Prelude to the 2026 Iran conflict. WP:BOLD close. Consensus to move this article in discussion below. WP:BARTENDER close to align with consensus on 2026 Iran conflict. Emerging consensus that focus of this article should be pre-hostilities events. —Ganesha811 (talk) 12:35, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

---

2026 Iran–United States crisis → Prelude to the 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran – Given the Prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine got an article, I say that precedent should apply here as well. Note, the title of the actual war will likely be subject to change. TheCorrectPanda (talk) 22:34, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Support there is also Background of the Twelve-Day War. It would also clean up the confusion about the scope of this article Braganza (talk) 19:14, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Support In my opinion it just makes the most sense when it comes to articles. SupersaurYT (talk) 19:56, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Support given that the scope of this article should be restrained to pre-conflict events leading up to the strikes in February. This would in effect be a parent article of the military buildup as well. Yeoutie (talk) 21:35, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Move to 2026 Iran war or 2026 Iran conflict. This article is about the crisis as a whole, not just the prelude to it, and the 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran article is just about one event on one day of the conflict (not covering things like the Iranian strikes on other countries). Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 22:27, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

The 2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran article does not just cover the initial strikes. It actually covers the Iranian strikes on other countries and several other things. And this article is mostly about the leadup to the strikes. Nextseagrass (talk) 22:59, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

The content about the Iranian strikes on other countries should be moved into this article- the 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran were notable in themselves and the article on them should not be overrun with information about the broader crisis/war that's not directly relating to those strikes. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 23:15, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

I think we should move 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran to the 2026 Iran war because the broader war with the Iranian response very much directly relates to the strikes -- Iran attacked US bases, Israel, and other countries in direct response to the strikes. And this page is mostly about the buildup to the strikes/war, so I think we should move it to Prelude to the 2026 Iran war and take out the stuff about the strikes and response at the bottom. Nextseagrass (talk) 23:24, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

I really don't think the buildup requires its own article. It's not like the Russia-Ukraine war which had an extensive buildup with large amounts of content- that info is fine remaining in an initial section or two. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 23:40, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Do you suggest we merge the articles? Nextseagrass (talk) 01:12, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

No, because I think the initial 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran which killed several major Iranian leadership figures are notable enough that they should continue to have their own article, separate to the article on the wider conflict. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 01:26, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

• Move to Prelude to the 2026 Iran war and move the 2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran to the 2026 Iran war. Nextseagrass (talk) 23:05, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Support per precedent with the Ukraine war. Passengerpigeon (talk) 04:29, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

• Move to 2026 Middle East war (change from my initial comment)- due to the recent news of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah. Per the BBC, There is now a new front in a war that is spreading across the Middle East. Best to have a broader title scope. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 06:07, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

... you had to make the US orange, didn't you?

we all know why haha ~2026-13227-36 (talk) 23:28, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Do you have some edit suggestion in mind? Dege31 (talk) 15:42, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

"Iran–United States War" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Iran–United States War has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 February 28 § Iran–United States War until a consensus is reached. Abesca (talk) 23:30, 28 February 2026 (UTC)

Cyber Operations

Military buildup section included mention of "cyber operations". The references offered, gulfnews or responsiblestatecraft do not mention of "cyber operations". Can someone refer source for it please. Pinecar (talk) 03:54, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 March 2026

Kebapman72 (talk) 04:07, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Remove PMF and Kataib Hezbollah from “Yemeni Forces” because they are Iraqi militias

• Either Template:Already done or  Not done: due to lack of clarity because I can't see anything like that that in the article. ―Maltazarian ^{(talk<math>\lor</math>investigate)} 15:14, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Misuse of "supported by" category

Some editors keep coat-racking countries supposedly "supporting" the US, without evidence. The UK in particular has not taken part in attacks on Iran, and has been only flying defensive operations. Nick Cooper (talk) 11:02, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

The category should not be used in conflict infoboxes anyway, as a rule of thumb. Dege31 (talk) 12:55, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Adding the Marine Corps to units involved

I found an article describing how Marine Corps aviators have been directly striking Iran I think it would be appropriate to add them into the Units involved section. I would do it myself but I don’t have editing access https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2026/02/28/marine-f-35c-jets-miramar-involved-iran-strikes/ F18Pilot (talk) 14:17, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 2 March 2026

Remove UKRAINE they are not involved — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-13241-58 (talk) 00:54, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Update the casualties, especially on those afflicted by the conflict

An editor moved information regarding the events of the crisis/war into this article away from the "2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran" article, which is okay, even if the manner it was done was not following Wikipedia guideline and will need further scrutiny.

HOWEVER, if this article is to cover the events of the exchanges overall, then it should have more details in its infobox. The infobox still stating that there was merely 1 casualty in Dubai is unacceptable. Especially for a C class article. This is misleading and even wrong. VitoxxMass (talk) 02:02, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Solved by user Skitash by moving the information back to its original article, user has been thanked. However, casualties remain inaccurate. VitoxxMass (talk) 02:09, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

It seems the Iranian Regime just attacked Incirlik Airbase in Turkey. Add Turkey to the defensive only list?

link

https://x.com/itsalireza_akb/status/2028353865267994954?s=20 Revolver guy (talk) 07:24, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Is already a war?

I felt the conflict is already a war since Iran is attacking everyone at this point. Change the title please. ImperialSupreme (talk) 11:47, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

I agree, this conflict between Iran, US, and American allies in the Middle East and Asia Minor is already considered a war. Israel and the United States have already struck Iran, Iran has retaliated and struck the UAE, Kuwait, and Israel, including American bases in the Middle East. I feel like war has begun. Thomas Kirchel (talk) 17:47, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

Update casualty lists per US statement Mar 1st

US CENTCOM announced some preliminary statements regarding US casualties:

https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2028446849078530280?s=20

https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2028120499964805297?s=20 ~2026-13528-63 (talk) 13:42, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Low Quality/Npov violation

"Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has become a symbolic figure for protesters with many chanting his name, has called for the removal of the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a democratic government through free elections"

This is not supported by the source, it's not-neutral, not objective (there is no evidence to use such definitive and sweeping language), and it's not in a tone befitting Wikipedia.

"Iran emphasized that progress depended on consultations back in capitals"

'Iran' here is something of state-fetishism and obscures who is actually taking the position. While it is true that the country-name is sometimes used as a stand-in for its government, this is not a suitable time to do this as it is more informative to just say the Iranian government, negotiators, or whomever.

"However, the United Kingdom has reportedly blocked Trump's request to use their air bases, leading to the latter withdrawing his support for the Chagos Islands deal."

Again, should be something like 'British government'.

The article is too US-heavy and under-represents the Iranian perspectives and positions, particularly regarding the actual facts regarding their lack of serious nuclear programme and their willingness to accept very significant concessions.

"Proxies responses and other allied responses"

Bad title, both because "proxies" is a poor term, because it's grammatically incorrect, and because it's incomplete as a section + is effectively redundant in the use of proxies/allies together.

There is absolutely no coverage of the Israeli side or role in escalation.

There could be a section for Iranian opposition, e.g., the Kurdish groups most importantly. You could have the exiled opposition (mainly MeK and Pahlavi 3.0), but I think the internal forces are the most important, especially given that the Kurdish groups have actually taken important actions to consolidate themselves in the build-up to all of this.

And so, yeah, it's just a poor article in its current state.

Some of these I can change quickly, some I can do slowly, some are worth discussing together. I cannot do so at this exact moment, but I will if they're not rectified sooner rather than later. LevatorScapulaeSyndrome (talk) 19:22, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

I added {{AI-generated}} tag. Check out the oldest edits of this page, and the user talk page of the creator, who was warned about LLM usage and was later blocked for sockpuppetry. If you're motivated enough to make this into a good start-level article, I would recommend a soft WP:TNT: (1) in your private files, make a list of all the significant soruces; (2) rewrite the article from scratch based on those sources, and integrating with existing Wikipedia articles that are related; (3) browse the history to see if some significant material was added without AI slop; (4) replace the entire content here and warn people on the talk page, so that they can recover edits that were done properly and that you missed. Boud (talk) 20:46, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, glad to see other people are aware of the flaws here.

I would be very happy to do this, or at least to contribute to it, I just (A) don't know how to save the draft if I take multiple days or whatever and (B) worry that it'd just be reverted by someone (I often see these no-explanation, no-message, rapid reverts), and I don't want to waste tons of my time just for it to be for nothing. I would want some sort of guarantee that people will earnestly work with whatever I created as a (half-) new basis for the article rather than just reverting it or appealing for the article's deletion in whole and making me very very sad.

As, of course, re-writing it from scratch would be very time-consuming. LevatorScapulaeSyndrome (talk) 13:35, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

If you want to write a draft, you can do it at User:LevatorScapulaeSyndrome/sandbox (or any other page under your userpage). I think a rewrite is ultimately going to be necessary. Sometimes it helps to do it gradually instead of just blanking the article and putting a new article in its place. That way other editors can follow along with what you're doing. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 07:27, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, I wasn't sure what Sandbox was for as I had someone randomly delete it for some obscure rule violation once when I was trying to figure out how tables worked. I will do that. Doing it section-by-section seems much wiser to allow for better collaboration, and, most importantly to me, to minimise any time wastage. I will begin writing a section, but if anyone else wanted to do a bit then I encourage them to reply to me here so we can avoid any parallel labour.

Thank you for the assistance @Thebiguglyalien. I will get on this when time allows o7.

LevatorScapulaeSyndrome (talk) 10:45, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

This is an all-out war

This is officially a war in the Middle East and the United States and Israel. Many media outlets call this a war. This page should be renamed to something like "Iranian-American War", "US Iran War", or "US-Israel War on Iran". Thomas Kirchel (talk) 17:44, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

There is an ongoing discussion about whether to change the titles of all the articles saying "2026 Iran conflict" to "2026 Iran war". The result seems to be leaning toward yes, but there's no rush and the standard is to give a few days for people to weigh in. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 07:16, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

We should wait for the main article renaming discussion to conclude and follow its lead. Doesn't make sense for a derivative article like this to have a separate naming convention to the main article, it'll just confuse people. LevatorScapulaeSyndrome (talk) 10:46, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Merge proposal

Since this article was (bizarrely) changed from being about the conflict as a whole to being about a "prelude" to the conflict, I'm not really sure what the point is in this existing as a standalone article any more. It seems like it's largely original research/synthesis of a lot of different topics, and that the information covered would best fit in 2026 Iran conflict, 2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations, and 2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East. There are no sources discussing a "prelude" as a distinct topic. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 17:16, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

There's also discussion about reworking the background section in the main article. If it's merged there, it'll probably end up removed anyway. The final approach is likely going to be a few paragraphs of background total with links to other articles like the ones you linked. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 03:59, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Comment It was never about the war, it was about the about the wider conflict (negotiations & military buildup) Braganza (talk) 21:58, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Prelude to the Twelve-Day War was originally an article named Background to the Iran-Israel war, . When the article about the strikes (2026 Israeli-United States strikes on Iran) was renamed to 2026 Iran conflict, #Requested move 28 February 2026 noticed the crisis article should coexist as a subtopic instead (when it was the broad article). It may require WP:HISTMERGE now. It was closed in Talk:Twelve-Day War § Merge proposal as merge. Abesca (talk) 22:25, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I would oppose and rather suggest that we merge 2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East into this article. This would follow the path of Prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shaan Sengupta^Talk 09:07, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

While every merge should be handled on a case-by-case basis, note that Prelude to the Twelve-Day War, the equivalent article for the previous conflict, has reached consensus to merge for similar reasons. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 23:49, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Background at main article

Talk:2026 Iran war#removal of historical background Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 18:04, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

"2026 Iran-US war" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect 2026 Iran-US war has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 March 6 § 2026 Iran-US war until a consensus is reached. Abesca (talk) 02:40, 6 March 2026 (UTC)