100 Days of U.S.-Israel War with Iran: Talks Stalled, Missiles Keep Flying

Tehran, Iran — One hundred days after the U.S. and Israel went to war, Iran’s government retains a hardline stance with no long-term solution in sight. Civilians are the heaviest casualties of a conflict that is roiling global markets.

In the capital, most shops are open but customer numbers have dropped. Traffic has only partially recovered; many have lost jobs after nationwide protests, bombings and two internet blackouts lasting months. Armored vehicles, heavy weapons and security forces are a constant sight in the 10-million-strong city day and night.

At night, the military erects checkpoints across the city, escorting pro-government convoys bearing religious slogans. Main squares and many streets are often cordoned off to gather crowds, who chant anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans.

Pro-government messages and flags of Hezbollah (Lebanon) and other members of the Iran-backed “axis of resistance” are widely displayed on banners and billboards across Iran. Some vehicles and murals feature images of Mojtaba Khamenei, chosen by the clerical council as the new supreme leader after his father, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was assassinated on the first day of the war.

Mojtaba Khamenei, believed injured in the same U.S.-Israeli attack that killed his father and several family members, has not appeared publicly since taking office, except through written messages attributed to him. The government has yet to hold a funeral for Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly 37 years. Family members were buried a week earlier; many senior commanders and officials killed on Feb. 28 were buried months afterward.

Fears of assassination and intelligence leaks remain high, forcing parliament to close and hold only limited sessions online. Universities and schools also remain shut, with many exams postponed and expected to be held online.

Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic’s institutions still exist and hold power, including many officials, among them leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who continue to disrupt energy and goods flows through the Strait of Hormuz while resisting the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports.

After about 40 days of intense war with thousands of attacks, followed by months of tense “ceasefires” with nightly fire exchanges lasting more than a week, a temporary deal to reopen the strategic waterway has not been reached. Any long-term peace deal appears even more distant.

On June 8, Iran’s Foreign Ministry in Tehran received Pakistan’s interior minister, a mediator, and also hosted an envoy from Lebanon in an effort to narrow gaps over Hezbollah and other issues with the U.S.

In an editorial marking the 100-day milestone, the hardline newspaper Keyhan (whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Ali Khamenei) said experience has taught the system that “America retreated because of missiles, not negotiations.” The paper called for “breaking Donald Trump’s gambit by halting talks and closing the Bab al-Mandeb strait” off Yemen, arguing the U.S. president uses negotiations to control global oil prices.

Iran’s armed forces have shown that, despite widespread bombing of military facilities, they retain the ability to launch ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and many types of drones. They also continue to shoot down some U.S. drones. Most of Iran’s military aircraft and large ships have been destroyed, but the IRGC still deploys speedboats and small vessels to carry out missions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s government says it wants to consolidate control of the strait, leverage passage, keep high-enriched uranium inside the country (possibly buried under rubble), and secure the lifting of decades-old sanctions. Years-long economic problems worsened after oil and gas facilities, steel and aluminum plants, and industrial zones were heavily bombed across the country.

Unchecked inflation stood at nearly 84% year-on-year in the second month of the Persian calendar year ending May 21, according to the Statistical Center of Iran. Food inflation over the same period hit 130%, with solid vegetable oil up 431%, eggs 342%, chicken 287% and imported rice 222% from the same month last year. Iran’s rial traded at around 1.77 million to the U.S. dollar on Tehran’s open market, near an all-time low.

The stock market is rising after a controlled reopening last month, which experts say is mostly due to inflation and the aftershock of returning after nearly three months of complete closure. The main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange is poised to break the record high of 4.5 million points first hit in early 2026. Internet has been partially restored after the longest nationwide blackout in any country, but remains tightly controlled by authorities. Courts continue to announce near-daily executions of dissidents, including those arrested during the current war.