Fifth Day of War: Iran Launches 40 Missiles at the US and Israel

The conflict in the Middle East entered its fifth day. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday (4 March 2026) that it had launched about 40 missiles at targets in the United States and Israel. “A few hours earlier, the 17th wave of the ‘Honest Promise 4’ operation was carried out with the launch of 40 missiles by the IRGC air force, targeting American and Zionist targets,” the IRGC statement read on state television, reported by Al Arabiya on Wednesday (4 March 2026). No further details were provided about the attack.

Israel and the United States have carried out air strikes against Iran since Saturday (28 February), triggering Iranian retaliation. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday (2 March) that the US-Israel war with Iran might take ‘a while’ but would not last for years.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior officials have warned that the conflict with Iran could result in more American casualties as Tehran retaliates against the United States and Israel.

CENTCOM said on Tuesday that Iran has launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones in its retaliatory strikes across the Middle East to date.

The risk to U.S. forces in the Middle East was discussed during a closed briefing to members of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday (3 March) by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“They told us in the room that there will be more Americans killed — that they would not be able to stop these drones,” said Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat.