In response to growing fears, the United States and its allies imposed severe economic sanctions on Iran.
These sanctions targeted:
Iranian banks
oil exports
international trade
The goal was simple: pressure Iran to limit its nuclear program.
But the confrontation was not limited to economics.
A shadow conflict began to unfold.
Cyber attacks, intelligence operations, and mysterious incidents started appearing in the headlines.
One of the most famous was the Stuxnet cyberattack, which damaged Iranian nuclear centrifuges.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated in unexplained attacks.
Iran blamed foreign intelligence services.
Tensions continued to rise.