Sourcing & Verification Standards

This tracker aggregates reporting from named sources including CENTCOM, IDF, IRGC, IRNA, Reuters, AP, Al Jazeera, CNN, NPR, CNBC, The Washington Post, CBS News, The Times of Israel, and Wikipedia's live article. All claims are attributed to their source. Where figures conflict between sources, both are noted.

Verification status is applied to key claims throughout:

Confirmed Corroborated by 2+ independent sources or official primary documentation (e.g. CENTCOM statement + AP report)
Developing Single source or early reports — not yet independently verified (e.g. Red Crescent casualty count relayed via one outlet)
Unverified Claim by one party — disputed or not independently confirmed (e.g. IRGC claim of hitting USS Lincoln)

Timeline timestamps are in US Eastern Time (ET) and are approximate (marked with ~) unless a precise time is known from primary sources. Casualty figures from conflict zones are inherently uncertain and frequently revised. Iranian Red Crescent figures are relayed via international media and cannot be independently verified from outside Iran. IRGC claims about US targets are treated as unverified unless confirmed by CENTCOM. Israeli casualty figures are sourced from MDA (Magen David Adom). The Escalation Index is an AI-generated assessment — not human editorial opinion. Its methodology and weighting are shown transparently so readers can evaluate individual factors. Probability estimates are also AI-generated. AI can be wrong — treat all scores and probabilities as analytical aids, not predictions.

This tracker does not have reporters on the ground. It is an aggregation and analysis dashboard, not primary reporting.