"The Iran War, in numbers and the Iran War Index."

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April 23, 2026

	By Sam Sifton

Good morning. The White House says that Iran’s seizure of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz is not a deal-breaker for peace negotiations. And senators didn’t get much sleep. They were up well past midnight voting on budget proposals. Fun.

There’s more news below, as well as an interview with Anne Hathaway. But I’m going to start today with numbers.

An individual stands in the shadows of a destroyed room, looking out at a pile of rubble and damaged buildings.

In Tehran this month. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

Iran war index

I grew up reading the Harper’s Index, a collection of statistics that has run in Harper’s Magazine since 1984. There’s something both spare and illuminating about each one. The collected facts amount to a kind of poetry, as these three stanzas from the May 2026 issue suggest:

Percentage of Americans who say that, as children, they knew a compassionate, nonjudgmental adult: 35

Percentage of these Americans who say that their mother was such a person: 50

That their father was: 5

As the cease-fires in Iran and Lebanon tremble, my colleague Evan Gorelick and I thought an index would be a useful way to examine the war. Numbers can help us understand what’s happening in the region and in the world beyond it, as the U.S. and Iran jockey for control of the Strait of Hormuz and Pakistani officials try to nudge diplomats from Washington and Tehran toward the negotiating table in Islamabad.

Oil and transit

The share of the world’s oil that passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war: one-fifth.
The number of ships that sailed through the strait on any given day before the war: 130.
The number of ships that did so Tuesday: 1. (Here’s what to know about Iran’s stranglehold on the strait.)

A map of the Strait of Hormuz showing where Iranian forces said they seized two ships and where a ship veered.

Adina Renner/The New York Times

The increase in the price of diesel fuel since the war began: 45 percent. That’s more than gasoline went up. Here’s why.
The number of flights Lufthansa Group, the German airline, said it would cut over the next six months to save jet fuel: 20,000. (Read more about the war’s disruptions of the airline industry.)

Politics and diplomacy

Days since the U.S. and Israel began joint strikes against Iran: 54.
The number of targets the U.S. military says it has struck: more than 13,000.
The number of days until President Trump’s authority to wage war without congressional action ends: 8. (Here’s one of our congressional reporters explaining how the law affects Trump’s calculations — or encourages him to go around it.)

The toll

The number of senior Iranian officials Israel says it has killed: more than 250.
The number of U.S. military service members killed in the war, according to Central Command: 13.
The number of people killed in Iran during the war, according to Iranian state media and a U.S.-based rights group: more than 3,000, including 1,700 civilians.

A woman, crying, reaches her hand out. Other people are holding her back.

At a mass funeral in Lebanon. David Guttenfelder/The New York Times

The number of people killed during Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials: nearly 2,300.
The number of people killed in Israel by missiles fired from Iran and Lebanon, according to Israel’s ambulance service: 23.

Follow a timeline of the hostilities, including key moments and attacks.

And finally:

The number of items — including articles, videos, blog posts, opinion essays and interactive features, maps and trackers — that The Times has published about the Iran conflict and its ramifications, as of yesterday afternoon: 2,023.

More on the war

Israeli strikes killed a journalist and injured another in southern Lebanon.
The assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave more power to the Revolutionary Guards.
The U.S. is withholding money that Iraq earned from its own oil sales to pressure Baghdad to distance itself from Iran.

IN ONE IMAGE

$A child and two adults on a fractured concrete road severed from a collapsed bridge.$

David Guttenfelder/The New York Times

Before the cease-fire paused the fighting in Lebanon this week, Israel had struck every major bridge along the Litani River, which divides the country’s north and south, in its battle against Hezbollah.

The Times photographer David Guttenfelder recently captured the image above at one of those bridges. Mariam Ayad and her husband, Ali Ali, were helping their nephew climb over the rubble as they journeyed south to reunite with family. They planned to have a picnic of boiled potatoes and vegetables — crops Mariam had planted before the war.

Take a closer look at the photo.

THE LATEST NEWS

Politics

The F.B.I. began an investigation last month into a Times reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, after she wrote about how Kash Patel used bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with security and transportation. (Read the original story.)
The Navy secretary was fired yesterday after months of infighting with senior Pentagon leaders.
The Justice Department charged the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacy, with financial crimes.
Representative David Scott, a Georgia Democrat who served nearly three decades in the state’s legislature before being elected to Congress, died at 80. His vacancy alters the balance of the House to favor Republicans.
Lawmakers have questioned the ability of Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick for Fed chair, to lead the central bank independently. In the video below, Colby Smith explains how Warsh has tried to distance himself from the president. Click to watch.

A short video showing Colby Smith, a reporter; Senator John Kennedy; Senator Elizabeth Warren; and Kevin Warsh.

The New York Times

Around the World

A shopper wearing a dark jacket searches through the shelves of a store.

In London. Tolga Akmen/EPA, via Shutterstock

Britain: Parliament approved a bill to permanently ban tobacco sales to anyone born in 2009 or later, with the aim of creating a “smoke-free generation.”
Ukraine: A new law in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol requires Ukrainians to get Russian title deeds or risk losing their homes.
Israel: At an independence day ceremony, the government honored a rabbi who has called to “flatten” the Gaza Strip.

Health

“Free birth,” a social media trend that says women should give birth without doctors, midwives or prenatal care, is putting mothers and babies at risk.
The acting head of the C.D.C. canceled the publication of a study showing the benefits of Covid vaccines.

Business

The Trump administration is considering lending Spirit Airlines as much as $500 million to keep the company from shutting down.
Anthropic’s new A.I. model, Mythos, has prompted concern worldwide. So far, the company has shared the technology only in the U.S. and Britain. A Russian pro-Kremlin outlet called the model “worse than a nuclear bomb.”

OPINIONS

In a Latino congressional district that once backed Trump, Bobby Pulido is winning voters by performing his hit songs at quinceañeras, Michelle Cottle writes.

Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens discuss the Trump administration’s rotating cast of characters.

Human made. Human played. 75% off.

Subscribe to New York Times Games for 75% off your first year. Our best offer is only available for a limited time. Relax and recharge with our full portfolio of games, including Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, the Crossword and more — all mindfully made by humans.

MORNING READS

A crowd of people in line, illuminated by red lights, under a dark starry night sky.

A star party at McDonald Observatory in Texas. Emily Elconin for The New York Times

Out of this world: The largest dark-sky reserve on Earth surrounds an observatory in the Big Bend region of Texas. That allows it to provide a portal to the early universe.

Self-defense: A Capitol Police officer was wrongfully implicated in a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory. Her accusers won’t let her move on.

Your pick: The most-clicked link in The Morning yesterday was a video about negotiations with Iran.

TODAY’S NUMBER

$444,000

— That is how much money one plastic surgery practice earned last year for a breast-reduction surgery. Under the No Surprises Act, doctors can argue their case to an arbitration panel and, if they win, bill a patient’s insurance company. They win a lot. How does it work?

SPORTS

N.F.L.: Ready for the draft? The Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is expected to go No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders tonight. Here’s the final mock draft for all 32 first-round picks.

N.B.A.: Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan have reconnected after not speaking for 14 years.

RECIPE OF THE DAY

A bulgogi burger on a toasted bun topped with scallions and dripping with orange spicy mayo.

Rachel Vanni for The New York Times

It’s a little misleading to call these bulgogi sandwiches I learned to make at the elbow of the chef Hooni Kim “sliders.” They’re not something a cater-waiter would serve you off a tray. They’re full-size burger buns slicked with spicy mayonnaise, stuffed with fragrant, thin-sliced brisket and topped with a quick-pickled scallion salsa that I sometimes replace with straight napa kimchi. Flavor on top of flavor on top of flavor.

A TENACIOUS QUEEN

Anne Hathaway rests a hand near her mouth while looking toward the camera.

Thea Traff for The New York Times

Anne Hathaway joined the “Popcast” team to talk about the three movies she has coming out this year, including “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which opens this week. (See photos from the premiere. The fashion people really showed up for this one.) “Something happened when I turned 40 and I just realized I was living my life like it was a dress rehearsal,” she told the hosts, “and that actually, it was showtime.” Watch here.