By Admin 
Call it ‘Operation Epic Fury’ or ‘Operation Roaring Lion’… In the 40 day long war between America, Israel and Iran, there was devastation on all three sides. Many countries of the Middle East were thrown into this fire. Thousands of deaths and hundreds of people rendered homeless. It may take as many years to heal the wounds caused by this war as the number of governments that can be changed. We will also talk about the recovery of these countries after the ceasefire. In the explainer…
Question 1: Iran’s wounds are deeper, how long will it take to heal?
answer: This war has had the biggest impact on Iran. Iran’s leadership is almost finished. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on 28 February 2026. Along with him, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpur, Intelligence Chief Ismail Khatib, Ali Larijani and dozens of other top commanders were killed. Overall, Iran lost more than 40 senior officials. Now Mujtaba Khamenei has been elected as the new Supreme Leader, but it will take many years to re-establish the entire command system.
According to the New York Post report, Iran’s nuclear sites were destroyed. There were repeated attacks on places like Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Bushehr. American and Israeli attacks caused heavy damage to the entrances, tunnels and equipment of these sites. Experts say that Iran’s nuclear program was already pushed back by the 2025 attacks. Now it has gone back several more years. If Iran wants to rebuild, it may take 5 to 10 years or more without outside help, but due to sanctions it is difficult to get help.
Iran’s human loss is also huge. According to the Iranian Health Ministry, more than 3,000 people died, while some reports put the death toll at more than 7,300. This includes both civilian and military. More than 26,000 were injured. Many hospitals were destroyed. There were attacks on schools, in which more than 175 children were killed in the attack on Minab’s girls’ school. 65 schools and 32 medical facilities were targeted. More than 10,000 civilian buildings, bridges, railways, petrochemical plants (South Pars gas field) and desalination plants were damaged. Water and electricity supply was disrupted.
Talking about economy, Iran’s economy was already weak. Now oil exports stopped and factories collapsed. According to the New York Post report, Iran suffered a loss of hundreds of billions of dollars due to the global economic impact. To rebuild all this will take tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure alone. If the sanctions are removed in talks, then there can be some improvement in 3-5 years, but it may take 10 years or more to completely restore nuclear and military power.
Question 2: Does America, which announced ceasefire, need recovery?
answer: Damage to America remained limited. 15 soldiers were killed and more than 500 were injured. There was a loss of about 800 million dollars on 17 bases in the Middle East, but America’s economy is strong. The total military cost of the war has reached more than 84 million dollars. Hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent every day. The consumption of arms was huge, but America has resources.
Recovery? It will take a few months to replace the military equipment. Long-term care of injured soldiers will last for years, but overall America’s wounds will heal in 1-2 years. Economically, it also benefited from the increase in oil prices because it is a net exporter.
Question 3: When will the wounds of Israel, which fought against Iran on the strength of America, heal?
answer: Israel has also suffered losses in this war. 12 soldiers and 27 civilians were killed, while more than 7,000 people were injured. Homes, factories and infrastructure were damaged by Iranian missiles. There was an economic loss of 3 billion dollars in just one week, but Israel’s economy is resilient. A separate war with Lebanon is still going on, but the ceasefire on the main Iran front brought relief.
Israel may take 6-12 months to repair infrastructure. Economic recovery will be fast i.e. the entire impact will be erased in 1-2 years.
Question 4: Apart from America, Israel and Iran, which countries suffered deep wounds?
answer: Apart from Iran, Lebanon was deeply wounded, where more than 1,530 people were killed in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. 4,812 were injured and lakhs of people were displaced. Hospitals, schools, homes and infrastructure were badly destroyed, which will take years to rebuild.
Among the Gulf countries, the UAE was worst hit, where Iranian missile and drone attacks damaged Dubai-Abu Dhabi airports, hotels, oil facilities and the Thuraya Telecom building, resulting in 13 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Attacks on oil and power plants in Kuwait resulted in 10 deaths, more than 100 injuries and major infrastructure damage. There were 3 deaths and more than 40 injuries in Bahrain, an attack on gas facilities in Qatar injured 4 and affected LNG production, while missile attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused 2 deaths, injuries and damaged energy sites in the Eastern Province.
Oil-gas production, refineries and ports of all these Gulf countries were badly affected. There were more than 100 deaths in Iraq, as attacks by American bases and Iran-backed militias halted power generation. There were also some attacks in Jordan in which injuries were reported, while drones were dropped near Incirlik Air Base in Turkey but there was no major damage.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused a billion-dollar blow to the economy of the entire region. Exports to Gulf countries stopped, due to which global inflation increased. Overall, Lebanon suffered the most serious damage in terms of humanitarian and infrastructure, while the Gulf countries (UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi) suffered the biggest impact on their oil-based economies. Although recovery may be faster due to their strong economies, the wounds of weaker countries like Lebanon may take 5-10 years or more to heal.
Question 5: What are the better options for recovery available to the three countries?
answer: Foreign expert and retired JNU professor A. Of. Pasha says that it is most important that the ceasefire should be permanent. In the Islamabad talks, consensus was reached on nuclear programme, sanctions, security guarantees and regional peace. Iran should get international help (from UN, EU or neighboring countries) so that recovery can be fast. America and Israel should also consider removing sanctions and economic cooperation. The wounds of death and devastation run deep mentally, so counseling and support is necessary. If peace continues, Iran can recover to a great extent in 5-10 years, while America and Israel can recover in 1-2 years, but if talks fail, the wounds can become deeper.