The United States and Israel have launched their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades on in an operation that killed the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which started on Saturday, stoked fears of a wider war and damage to the world economy. Global reaction ranged from jubilation to condemnation.
Iran and Iranian-backed militias have responded, firing missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the US embassy compound in Kuwait.
The strikes came two days after the latest US-Iran talks, as US president Donald Trump pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear programme.
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Where have US-Israeli air strikes hit Iran?
Israel and the US bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the US-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country have come under attack.
Iranian state media said at least 165 people were killed in southern Iran when a girls’ school was struck.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The US military said it was looking into the reports.
What did US-Israeli air strikes target in Tehran?
Israel said it had worked with the US for months to plan the attacks.
The US military said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defence capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
One of the first strikes hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989 and held ultimate power.
Israel said that it also killed dozens of other top Iranian military officials.
Where has Iran attacked?
Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states after vowing retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader by the US and Israel.
In Israel, loud explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Israel’s rescue services said nine people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike that hit a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11.
Eleven people were still missing after the strike, police said, as rescue crews combed the rubble.
Iran and Iranian-backed militias also apparently hit the US embassy compound in Kuwait.
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting US troops at Baghdad airport, the day after it said it fired at a US base in the city of Irbil in the north, and Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the Mediterranean island nation.
The US military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission while attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones were under way. The US Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition.
In Kuwait, fire and smoke rose from inside the US embassy compound.
“Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defence forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” it said.
Iranian state television claimed Iran had targeted US aircraft, without elaborating.
The Gulf state of Qatar, meanwhile, said its air force had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.
Before the embassy compound was hit, the US issued a warning to Americans in Kuwait to take cover and for others to stay away.
Iran has also expanded its attacks to major regional oil infrastructure, adding a new element to the war gripping the Middle East, directly targeting the lifeblood of the area’s economy.
A Saudi Arabian oil refinery – one of the world’s largest – came under a drone attack on Monday, with defences downing the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Oman said a bomb-carrying drone boat exploded against an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, while earlier in the day, debris fell on Kuwait’s Ahmadi oil refinery, injuring two workers, after drones were shot down, the state-run Kuna news agency reported. – Agencies, maps by Paul Scott/The Irish Times
