US-Iran crisis: Who are the main players?

Here are the key actors in the crisis. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DUBAI - The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran following failed negotiations and a crackdown on mass protests against the Islamic republic.

Here are the key actors in the crisis.

The US president has sought to position himself as a global peacemaker, but on Iran he has taken a consistently hard line.

In 2025, his forces joined Israel’s war with the Islamic republic by conducting strikes on nuclear sites.

During the mass protests that shook Iran in January, Mr Trump warned he would hit “very hard” if authorities “start killing people like they have in the past”.

In his first term, Mr Trump was the architect of the “maximum pressure” doctrine aimed at weakening Iran economically and diplomatically.