| t | November 1979- | t | November 1979: Iranian students, backed by the regime, seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran — taking 66 Americans hostage in a 444-day standoff. |
| January 1981: Iranian students — with the backing of Tehran — take 66 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. | | April 1983: The Islamic Jihad, an Iran‑backed terrorist group, carried out a suicide car bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans. |
| April 1983: A suicide car bombing kills 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. The Iran‑backed terrorist group Islamic Jihad, a precursor and early branch of Hezbollah (not to be confused with Palestinian Islamic Jihad), claims responsibility. | | October 1983: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists killed 241 U.S. military personnel — including 220 U.S. Marines and 21 other service personnel — in a truck bombing at a Marine compound in Beirut. |
| October 1983: Operatives of the Iran‑backed Hezbollah drive a truck bomb at a Marine compound in Beirut, killing 220 U.S. Marines and 21 other service personnel. | | March 1984: Iran‑backed Islamic Jihad terrorists kidnapped CIA station chief William Buckley on his way to work in Beirut, ultimately killing him the following year. |
| December 1983: Hezbollah operatives drive an explosives-filled dump truck through the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City. No Americans are harmed. | | September 1984: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists killed 23 innocent people — including two American service members — in a car bomb attack at the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut. |
| March 1984: Terrorists kidnap CIA station chief William Buckley in Beirut, subsequently torturing and ultimately killing him in 1985. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility. | | December 1984: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists hijacked Kuwait Airways Flight 221 en route to Pakistan, diverting it to Tehran — where they brutally tortured and killed two American officials. |
| December 1984: Hezbollah terrorists hijack Kuwait Airways Flight 221 on its way from Kuwait to Pakistan and divert it to Tehran, killing two American officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development. | | June 1985: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists hijacked TWA Flight 847 on its way from Athens to Rome, torturing a U.S. Navy diver before shooting him point blank in the head and tossing his body onto the Beirut airport tarmac. |
| June 1985: Hezbollah terrorists hijack TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome and kill a U.S. Navy diver. | | |
| July 1989: Hezbollah operatives kill U.S. Marine Corps Col. William Higgins after kidnapping him the previous year while on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. | | July 1989: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists killed U.S. Marine Col. William Higgins after kidnapping him the previous year while serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. |
| April 1995: An explosives-laden van crashes into a bus near Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip, killing one American and seven Israelis. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility. | | April 1995: Iran‑backed Islamic Jihad terrorists killed eight people — including one American citizen — in a car bomb attack in the Gaza Strip. |
| August 1995: A Hamas suicide bomber blows up a bus in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Jerusalem, killing an American and three other passengers and wounding more than 100. | | August 1995: An Iran‑backed Hamas suicide bomber blew up a bus in Jerusalem, killing an American and three other passengers, and wounding more than 100 others. |
| February 1996: A Hamas suicide bomber blows up a Jerusalem bus, killing three Americans and wounding three other Americans. A total of 26 people die in the attack. | | February 1996: An Iran‑backed Hamas suicide bomber blew up another bus in Jerusalem, killing three Americans and wounding three other Americans. |
| March 1996: A suicide bomber blows up the Dizengoff shopping center in Tel Aviv, wounding two Americans. Twenty people die and 75 others are injured in the attack. Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claim responsibility. | | March 1996: A suicide bomber linked to the Iran‑backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups killed 20 people — including two Americans — in a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv shopping center. |
| May 1996: Gunmen kill an American‑Israeli dual citizen in the community of Beit El in the West Bank. Another U.S. citizen and three Israelis are wounded. No group claims responsibility, but Israel suspects Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. | | May 1996: Iran‑backed terrorists killed an American‑Israeli dual citizen and wounded another American citizen in the West Bank. |
| June 1996: A truck carrying 5,000 pounds of explosives blows up the Khobar Towers, a U.S. Air Force housing complex in the Saudi Arabian town of Khobar. Nineteen Americans die and some 500 people are injured. The Iran‑backed Hezbollah Al Hijaz, a terrorist group in Saudi Arabia, is deemed responsible. | | June 1996: Iran‑backed Hezbollah Al-Hijaz terrorists killed 19 U.S. Airmen and wounded nearly 500 others in a truck bombing at a U.S. Air Force housing complex in Saudi Arabia. |
| September 1997: Three Hamas suicide bombers blow themselves up at the Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing a U.S.-Israeli dual citizen and wounding seven other American citizens. Four other people die and nearly 200 are wounded in the attack. | | September 1997: Iran‑backed Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up at a shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing an American‑Israeli dual citizen and wounding seven other American citizens. |
| August 1998: With the assistance of Hezbollah, al Qaeda suicide bombers almost simultaneously blow up the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans, and wounding thousands. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, al Qaeda developed “the tactical expertise for such attacks months earlier, when some of its operatives — top military committee members and several operatives who were involved with the Kenya cell among them — were sent to Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon.” | | August 1998: Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, facilitated by Iran‑backed Hezbollah, simultaneously bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people — including a dozen American citizens. |
| August 2001: A Hamas suicide bomber blows up the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, killing a U.S.-Israeli dual citizen and two other Americans. A total of 15 people die in the attack. | | August 2001: An Iran‑backed Hamas terrorist blew up a Jerusalem pizzeria, killing three Americans. |
| September 11, 2001: While the 9/11 Commission Report concludes that Iran had no foreknowledge of al Qaeda’s attacks on the World Trade Center, the report indicates that Tehran facilitated the travel of some of the terrorists. “In sum,” the report notes, “there is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.” | | January 2002: An Iran‑backed al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade terrorist killed an American‑Israeli dual citizen in the West Bank. |
| January 2002: Gunmen affiliated with the Iran‑backed al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade kill a U.S.-Israel dual citizen and wound another individual in the West Bank community of Beit Sahur. | | July 2002: An Iran‑backed Hamas terrorist killed five Americans in a bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. |
| July 2002: A bomb planted by a Hamas terrorist kills five Americans at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, killing five American students, including an American‑Israeli dual citizen and an American-French dual citizen. A total of nine people died in the attack. | | June 2003: An Iran‑backed Hamas suicide bomber killed 17 people — including an American citizen — on a bus in Jerusalem. |
| June 2003: An American citizen, along with 16 other people, died when a Hamas terrorist blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem. | | |
| October 2003: Terrorists from the Iran‑backed Popular Resistance Committees kill three U.S. diplomatic personnel in a bombing in Gaza. | | October 2003: Iran‑backed Popular Resistance Committees terrorists killed three U.S. diplomatic personnel in a bombing in Gaza. |
| 2003-2011: Iranian‑backed militias kill at least 603 U.S. troops in Iraq, according to the Pentagon. Iranian training and material support for Iraqi militias during the surge greatly increased the difficulty of U.S. forces to combat the insurgency and included some of the deadliest weapons used against American troops, including explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). | | Between 2003 and 2011: Iran‑backed militias killed at least 603 U.S. troops in Iraq — “roughly one in every six American combat fatalities in Iraq.” |
| August 2003: A Hamas suicide bomber blows up a bus in Jerusalem, killing five Americans and wounding one other American. A total of 24 people died in the attack. | | August 2003: An Iran‑backed Hamas terrorist blew up a bus in Jerusalem, killing five Americans and wounding one other American. |
| August 2006: Hezbollah fighters kill American citizen Michael Levin, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), during the Second Lebanon War. He is the only American to die in the conflict. | | August 2006: Iran‑backed Hezbollah terrorists killed American citizen and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Michael Levin during the Second Lebanon War — the only American to die in the conflict. |
| January 2007: Twelve men affiliated with the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) disguised themselves as U.S. soldiers, entered the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in the Iraqi city of Karbala, killed five U.S. soldiers, and wounded another three. In 2019, the U.S. State Department issued a $15 million bounty for information on an IRGC Quds Force commander who planned the attack and other “assassinations of coalition forces in Iraq.” | | January 2007: A dozen men affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force killed five U.S. soldiers and wounded three others in Karbala, Iraq, after disguising themselves as U.S. soldiers and entering the Provincial Joint Coordination Center. |
| July 2014: Hamas terrorists kill two Americans serving in the IDF during fighting between the terrorist group and Israel in Gaza as part of Operation Protective Edge. | | March 2007: Former FBI Agent Robert Levinson disappeared in Iran, likely dying in an Iranian prison. |
| October 2015: Hamas terrorists kill an American citizen and his wife, residents of the West Bank community of Neria, in their car in a drive-by shooting. | | July 2014: Iran‑backed Hamas terrorists killed two American citizens serving in the IDF. |
| December 2019: Rockets fired by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran‑backed militia, kills an American security contractor and wounds several U.S. service members and Iraqi personnel at the K1 military base in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. | | October 2015: Iran‑backed Hamas terrorists killed an American citizen and his wife in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank. |
| January 2020: A direct Iranian ballistic missile attack against the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq causes more than 100 U.S. troops to suffer traumatic brain injuries. | | December 2019: Iran‑backed Kataib Hezbollah terrorists killed an American civilian contractor and wounded several U.S. service members in a rocket attack at K1 Air Base in Kirkuk, Iraq. |
| March 2020: The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007, announces that he likely died in an Iranian prison at an unknown date. | | January 2020: 109 U.S. troops suffered traumatic brain injuries in an Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq. |
| September 2020: U.S. intelligence reports indicate that Iran is weighing a plot to assassinate U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks. | | September 2020: U.S. intelligence indicated the Iranian regime was considering a plot to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. |
| February 2021: An rocket fired by an Iran‑backed militia at coalition forces in the Iraqi city of Erbil wounds a U.S. service member and four U.S. civilian contractors. | | February 2021: An Iran‑backed militia fired a rocket at coalition forces in Erbil, Iraq, wounding a U.S. service member and four U.S. civilian contractors. |
| July 2021: Iranian‑backed militias conduct at least three rocket and drone attacks against U.S. forces in 24 hours in Iraq and Syria, wounding two U.S. service members. | | July 2021: Iranian‑backed militias wounded two U.S. service members in a series of rocket and drone attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. |
| September 2022: An Iranian rocket attack kills an American citizen in Iraqi Kurdistan. | | September 2022: An Iranian rocket attack killed an American citizen in Iraqi Kurdistan. |
| November 2022: A captain in Iran’s IRGC orchestrates the killing of an American citizen living in Baghdad who worked at an English language institute. | | November 2022: An IRGC captain orchestrated the killing of an American citizen in Baghdad. |
| March 2023: An Iranian drone kills an American contractor and wounds five service members and another contractor when it strikes a coalition base near the Syrian city of Hasakah. | | March 2023: An Iranian drone attack killed an American contractor and wounded five U.S. service members and another contractor in a strike on a coalition base in Syria. |
| October 7, 2023: Hamas kills at least 48 Americans and kidnaps at least 12 Americans in a massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel. | | October 2023: Iran‑backed Hamas terrorists killed 46 Americans and kidnapped at least 12 Americans in the October 7th massacre. |
| December 2023: A drone attack conducted by an Iranian‑backed Iraqi militia against U.S. forces in Erbil wounds three American soldiers, including one critically injured with shrapnel to the head that placed him in a coma. | | December 2023: Iran‑backed militias wounded three U.S. service members in an attack on Erbil Air Base in Iraq. |
| January 2024: A drone launched by Kataib Hezbollah kills three U.S. soldiers at a U.S. military base in Jordan and wounded more than 40 other service members. | | January 2024: Iran‑backed Kataib Hezbollah terrorists killed three U.S. service members and wounded more than 40 other service members in a drone attack against the Tower 22 military base in Jordan. Between October 2023 and |
| October 2024: Iran executes German-Iranian national and U.S. permanent resident Jamshid Sharmahd on fraudulent terrorism charges. | | November 2024: Iran and its proxies conducted more than 180 attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East, wounding more than 180 U.S. service members and killing three service members. |
| November 2024: A report released by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies indicates that Iran and its proxies have conducted more than 180 attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East between October 17, 2023, and November 19, 2024, resulting in more than 180 wounded and three killed U.S. service members. | | November 2024: An Iranian national and IRGC asset was charged for plotting to assassinate President Trump. |
| November 2024: The U.S. Department of Justice announces charges against an Iranian national and two American accomplices for plotting to assassinate President Trump. | | June 2025: Iran‑backed militias attacked at least three U.S. bases in Syria and two U.S. bases in Iraq. |
| March 2025: A U.S. jury convicts two agents of Iran for plotting to assassinate Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad in New York in 2022. | | |
| June 2025: At least three U.S. bases in Syria and two U.S. bases in Iraq are attacked with missiles or drones, likely by Iranian‑backed militias. | | |