Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States attacked Iran again on Thursday. This was the second day of attacks in a row, after President Trump said a ceasefire was over.
The attacks hit a city called Chabahar in the south of Iran. Chabahar has a busy port, a place where large ships stop. The attacks damaged a control tower and two piers, and many homes lost power.
On the very same day, Iran buried its old Supreme Leader. His name was Ali Khamenei. He was killed months ago in an earlier bombing attack.
Iran has a new leader now, Khamenei's son Mojtaba. But no one has seen him in public since his father died.
- attack
- to use force against someone or something
- port
- a place by the water where ships stop
- tower
- a tall, narrow building or structure
- pier
- a long platform where ships can stop
- power (electricity)
- the energy used to run lights and machines
- funeral
- a ceremony held when someone has died
- leader
- a person who is in charge of a country or group
- public
- open for anyone to see; not private
Level 2 — Elementary
The United States carried out a second consecutive day of airstrikes against Iran on Thursday, widening the conflict after President Trump declared at a NATO summit in Turkey that the fragile ceasefire was 'over.'
The latest strikes targeted Chabahar, a port city in southern Iran, where explosions damaged a maritime traffic control tower and two piers used for shipping. Local officials reported widespread power outages across roughly half the city, and a nearby hospital was struck by falling debris.
The attacks unfolded on the same day that Iran laid its assassinated Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, to rest at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the holiest site in Iranian Shia Islam. Khamenei was killed in February when a US-Israeli strike hit his office in Tehran, and his six-day state funeral had already passed through Tehran, Qom, and Iraq before the burial.
Iran's succession remains uncertain. Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, was reportedly wounded in the same strike that killed his father and has not appeared in public since, even as his clerical rank was recently elevated in what analysts see as an attempt to prepare him for the role of Supreme Leader.
- consecutive
- following one after another without interruption
- ceasefire
- an agreement to stop fighting, usually temporary
- maritime
- relating to the sea or shipping
- debris
- scattered pieces of wreckage or rubble
- assassinate
- to kill an important person, often for political reasons
- shrine
- a sacred place associated with a holy person
- succession
- the process of one person taking over a position from another
- elevate (rank)
- to raise someone to a higher position or level
Level 3 — Intermediate
The United States conducted a second consecutive day of airstrikes against Iran on Thursday, escalating hostilities after President Trump, speaking from the NATO summit in Ankara, declared that the ceasefire brokered weeks earlier had effectively collapsed.
The latest wave of strikes concentrated on Chabahar, a strategically vital port city in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, where explosions crippled a maritime traffic control tower and damaged two piers integral to commercial shipping operations. Iranian state media reported that power outages spread across roughly half the city, while debris from the strikes struck a nearby hospital.
The bombardment coincided with the culmination of Iran's elaborate state funeral for its assassinated Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, whose remains were interred at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the most revered pilgrimage site in Shia Islam. Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation in February that also claimed members of his immediate family, and his six-day funeral procession had already traversed Tehran, Qom, Najaf, and Karbala.
The question of succession looms unresolved. Mojtaba Khamenei, believed to have been seriously wounded in the same strike that killed his father, has remained conspicuously absent from public view, even as clerics elevated his religious credentials in what analysts interpret as a maneuver to bolster his legitimacy as a potential successor amid the country's ongoing instability.
- escalate
- to increase in intensity or seriousness
- broker (verb)
- to arrange or negotiate an agreement between parties
- crippled (figurative)
- severely damaged or weakened
- integral
- essential or fundamental to the whole
- bombardment
- a sustained attack with bombs or shells
- interred
- buried, especially with ceremony
- pilgrimage
- a journey to a sacred place for religious reasons
- conspicuous
- easily noticed; standing out
Level 4 — Advanced
The United States executed a second consecutive day of airstrikes against Iran on Thursday, escalating hostilities in the aftermath of President Trump's declaration, delivered from the NATO summit in Ankara, that the tenuous ceasefire brokered weeks prior had irrevocably collapsed.
The latest bombardment concentrated on Chabahar, a strategically indispensable port city in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, where explosions incapacitated a maritime traffic control tower and inflicted damage upon two piers integral to commercial shipping operations. Iranian state media reported power outages spanning roughly half the city, while debris from the strikes breached a nearby hospital.
The onslaught coincided precisely with the culmination of Iran's elaborate state funeral for its assassinated Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, whose remains were interred at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the most venerated pilgrimage site within Shia Islam. Khamenei perished in a joint US-Israeli operation in February that also claimed several members of his immediate family, and his six-day funeral cortege had already traversed Tehran, Qom, Najaf, and Karbala en route to burial.
The matter of succession remains conspicuously unresolved. Mojtaba Khamenei, believed to have sustained grievous wounds in the very strike that killed his father, has remained pointedly absent from public view, even as clerics moved to elevate his religious credentials in what analysts construe as a maneuver to bolster his legitimacy as heir apparent amid the nation's persisting instability.
- tenuous
- weak or flimsy; barely holding together
- irrevocably
- in a way that cannot be reversed or undone
- indispensable
- absolutely necessary; essential
- incapacitated
- deprived of strength or the ability to function
- onslaught
- a fierce or destructive attack
- cortege
- a solemn procession, especially for a funeral
- venerated
- regarded with deep respect
- heir apparent
- a person certain to inherit a position or title
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