2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis
The 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis is the ongoing state of heightened military tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States and their allies in the Persian Gulf region. Starting in early May 2019, the U.S. began a buildup of its military presence in the region to deter an alleged planned campaign by Iran and its non-state allies to attack American forces and interests in the Persian Gulf and Iraq. This followed a rise in political tensions between the two countries during the Trump administration, which included the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the imposition of new sanctions against Iran, and the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. In response, Iran designated the United States Central Command as a terrorist organization.

Several merchant ships in the Persian Gulf were damaged in two incidents in May and June 2019. Western nations blamed Iran, while Iran denied involvement. In June 2019, Iran shot down an American RQ-4A surveillance drone flying over the Strait of Hormuz, sharply increasing tensions and nearly resulting in an armed confrontation. In July 2019, an Iranian oil tanker was seized by Britain in the Strait of Gibraltar on the grounds that it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Iran later captured a British oil tanker and its crew members in the Persian Gulf. Both Iran and the UK later released the ships. Meanwhile, the U.S. created the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), which sought to increase "overall surveillance and security in key waterways in the Middle East", according to the United States Department of Defense.

The crisis escalated in late 2019 and early 2020 when alleged members of the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia, part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, killed an American contractor in an attack on an Iraqi base hosting U.S. personnel. In retaliation, the U.S. conducted airstrikes against Kata'ib Hezbollah's facilities in Iraq and Syria, killing 25 militiamen. Kata'ib Hezbollah responded with an attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, which prompted the U.S. to deploy hundreds of new troops to the Middle East and announce that it would preemptively target Iran's "proxies" in Iraq. Days later, the commander of IRGC's Quds Force Qasem Soleimani and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were both killed in a U.S. drone strike, resulting in Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pledging to exact revenge on U.S. forces. The U.S. deployed nearly 4,000 troops in response to the tensions, and Israel heightened its security levels. On 5 January 2020, Iran ended its commitments to the nuclear deal, and the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution to expel all foreign troops from its territory.

The U.S. and Iran nearly entered into an open conflict on 8 January 2020 when the IRGC launched ballistic missile attacks against two military bases in Iraq housing U.S. soldiers in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani, a rare direct Iran–U.S. confrontation and the closest to the brink of war between the two nations in decades. Upon initial assessments of no U.S. casualties, the Trump administration curtailed tensions by temporarily ruling out a direct military response but announcing new sanctions. It was later revealed that more than a hundred U.S. troops sustained injuries during the attacks. During the crisis, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down after departing from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, and Western officials said the plane had been brought down by an Iranian SA-15 surface-to-air missile. On 11 January 2020, the Iranian military admitted in a statement that they had mistakenly shot down the plane due to human error.
Q794
Islamic Republic of Iran
LOC
Q30
United States
LOC
Q34675
Persian Gulf
LOC
Q7049045
non-state allies
Concept
Q796
Iraq
LOC
rise in political tensions
UNK
Q27809653
Trump administration
MEDIA
Q52836581
withdrawal of the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
Concept
Q271110
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
ORG
Q1476046
United States Central Command
ORG
Q312484
terrorist organization
UNK
Q63830384
in May
Concept
Q64590471
June 2019
Concept
Q64740664
shot down
EVE
Q162066
RQ-4A
MISC
Q79883
Strait of Hormuz
LOC
Q14928
oil tanker
Concept
None
seized by Britain
UNK
Q36124
Strait of Gibraltar
LOC
Q858
Syria
LOC
Q458
European Union
ORG
Q67918859
International Maritime Security Construct
ORG
Q11209
United States Department of Defense
Concept
Q4119382
Kata'ib Hezbollah
ORG
Q19610107
Popular Mobilization Forces
ORG
Q80615034
attack
EVE
Q26847124
airstrikes against Kata'ib Hezbollah's facilities
Concept
Q80438042
attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad
Concept
Q864113
proxies
Concept
Q311381
Quds Force
ORG
Q892014
Qasem Soleimani
PER
Q19609480
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Concept
Q80754846
in a U.S. drone strike
Concept
Q332486
Supreme Leader
PER
Q57336
Ali Khamenei
PER
Q801
Israel
LOC
Q17001802
nuclear deal
Concept
Q1973075
Iraqi parliament
MEDIA
Q81341687
launched ballistic missile attacks
Concept
Q81360866
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
MEDIA
Q734729
Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport
LOC
Q756212
SA-15
MISC
Q466704
surface-to-air missile
Concept
Q65920364
2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis
Concept
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
2019-05-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
May 2019
DATE
2019-06-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 2019
DATE
2019-06-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
June 2019
DATE
2019-07-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
July 2019
DATE
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2020
DATE
2020-01-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
5 January 2020
DATE
2020-01-08T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
8 January 2020
DATE
2020-01-11T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
11 January 2020
DATE
+2021^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
2021
NUMBER
-4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-4
NUMBER
+25^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
25
NUMBER
-15^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-15
NUMBER
country
country
country
participant
located in or next to body of water
basin country
item operated
part of
commander of (DEPRECATED)
point in time
instance of