Dubai: The US and Israel pounded targets across Iran Sunday, dropping massive bombs on the country’s ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Blasts rattled windows across the country and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above Tehran. More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes, according to Iranian leaders.
As the bombardment went on, the conflict threatened to widen beyond the U.S., Israel and Iran. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed strikes on Israel, which fired back, and Gulf states warned that they could retaliate against Iran after strikes that hit key sites and killed at least five civilians. Meanwhile, European powers offered to help American forces in their effort to stop Iran from attacking other countries.
Iran vowed revenge, firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a counteroffensive that killed three US service members – the first known American casualties from the conflict. Israeli rescue services said strikes hit several locations, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11.
The attacks on Iran showed no signs of relenting as the US and Israel took aim at warships and ballistic missile sites. It was a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an America First platform and pledged to keep out of forever wars.
Trump vows vengeance for US deaths
The three who were killed were Army soldiers deployed to Kuwait as part of a supplies and logistics unit, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Israel announced several waves of fighter jet attacks targeting Tehran, including buildings belonging to Iran’s air force, its missile command and its internal security force, which violently quashed anti-government protests in January.
The U.S. military said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Trump said on social media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been largely destroyed.
Others have mostly stayed out of the war and pressed for diplomacy. But in an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations, Britain, France and Germany said Sunday they were ready to work with the U.S. to help stop Iran’s attacks, and a group of Gulf Arab countries said it reserved the right to respond to Iranian strikes.
The weekend attacks were the second time in eight months that the U.S. and Israel had combined against Iran. In the 12-day war last June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defences, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.
Trump, who a day earlier had encouraged Iranians to take over their government, signalled Sunday that he was open to dialogue with Iran’s new leadership.
They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them, he told The Atlantic.
War expands beyond US bases, Iran and Israel
In the Gulf, Iran’s retaliatory strikes pushed the conflict into cities that have long marketed themselves as regional safe havens. Three were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said most Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted. But some either got through or fell as debris, causing the deaths and significant damage. Bahrain and Kuwait said Iranian strikes in both countries hit civilian targets outside the U.S. bases where Iran had pledged to retaliate.
In Lebanon and Iraq, Iranian-supported militant groups also entered the conflict.
The Iraqi Shiite militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, further widening the retaliation over the killing of Khamenei.
The group is one of a number of Shiite militias operating in Iraq. The U.S. and Iraq did not immediately comment on the claim. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence information, confirmed that the attack occurred.
In Lebanon, Israel launched strikes on Beirut after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border early Monday.
It was the first time in more than a year that the Lebanese militant group has claimed a strike against Israel. The Israeli military said Hezbollah had joined the campaign alongside Iran.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its strikes were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei and for repeated Israeli aggressions.
Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by a series of loud explosions that shook buildings and caused windows to shatter. Warplanes could be heard flying low overhead.
Lebanese government officials had urged Hezbollah not to enter the fray in support of Iran, fearing another war. The country has not recovered from the last Israel-Hezbollah war, which nominally ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November 2024. Since then, Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon aimed at stopping Hezbollah from regrouping.
Iran’s proxies were a chief concern for American and Israeli officials before they suspended negotiations and moved ahead with strikes on Iran.
Streets of Tehran are largely deserted
In Tehran, there was little sign that Iranians had heeded Trump’s call for an uprising against the government.
The streets were largely deserted as people sheltered during airstrikes, witnesses told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution. The paramilitary Basij, which has played a central role in crushing protests, set up checkpoints across the city, they said.
An Iranian medical professional in northern Iran said he and colleagues spent the early hours of Sunday celebrating Khamenei’s death indoors because armed security forces are still heavily deployed in his city.
There were forces stopping and interrogating people celebrating in their cars, but there was no gunfire, said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
It was one of the best nights, if not the best night of our lives, the doctor said in a voice message from the city of Rasht. We didn’t sleep at all. And we don’t even feel tired.
An eyewitness in the city told AP that the windows of their apartment shook violently, and residents came out onto the streets, fearing it was too dangerous to stay inside. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Video footage from Tehran showed plumes of smoke filling the skyline, and the state-run IRNA news agency reported that parts of the building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) were struck Sunday.
In southern Iran, at least 165 people were killed Saturday when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, IRNA reported. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.
Iran promises revenge and moves to choose a new leader
As the supreme leader, Khamenei had final say on all major policies since 1989. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and the Revolutionary Guard, the two main centres of power in the governing theocracy.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a prerecorded message that a new leadership council had begun its work. The country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said a new supreme leader would be chosen in one or two days.
Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, blamed the U.S. and Israel for starting the war. He said he had spoken to his counterparts in the Gulf countries and urged them to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end it.
You have crossed our red line and must pay the price, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address. We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.
In a social media post, Trump warned against any retaliation, saying IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!
Chance to kill senior leaders was a golden opportunity’
An Israeli military official described Saturday’s mission against the Iranian leadership as the result of months of extremely high coordination with the U.S. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a covert operation, said a variety of factors created a golden opportunity. Those factors included weeks of training and monitoring the movements of senior figures, along with real-time intelligence that the targets were gathered together.
The results, the official said, were near-simultaneous strikes, within 60 seconds of one another, in three locations 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres) from Israel that killed Khamenei and some 40 senior figures, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard and the country’s defence minister.
