The war in the Middle East expanded on multiple fronts Monday, with attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias hitting Israel and Arab states. A senior Iranian official signaled that there would be no negotiations with the United States, and the Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 555 people have been killed so far in the Iranian Republic.
Strikes by Israel and the United States were happening in Iran, and Israeli forces were hitting targets in southern Lebanon where at least 31 were killed, in a war that began with the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. A strike in Iran on Monday apparently took Iranian state television off air.
Fallout from the fighting has been felt around the globe, with canceled flights, deadly protests and suspended shipping and stock markets. Reaction has ranged from jubilation to condemnation. The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which started Saturday, stoked fears of a wider war and damage to the world economy.
As Israeli strikes targeted Tehran, Iran fired drones and missiles at Israel and sites around the Gulf. Three close US allies — Britain, France and Germany— said they were ready to defend their interests in the region.
Trump said in a video posted Sunday that the operation in Iran — “one of the most complex, most overwhelming military offensives the world has ever seen” — will continue until “all of our objectives” are achieved.
Iran’s provisional governing council is expected to name a new supreme leader. Iran’s theocracy has struggled with growing dissent following nationwide protests over the economy that morphed into anti-government ones.
Khamenei killed in one of first strikes Israel said it had worked with the United States for months to plan the attacks. The US military said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense 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. Iranian state media reported Khamenei’s death, without details. Israel said that it also killed dozens of other top Iranian military officials.
The Trump administration has asserted that Iran had been rebuilding its nuclear program, which Tehran has insisted is for peaceful purposes.
Witnesses said an attack Monday in northern Tehran’s Niavaran neighborhood struck one of the transmitters used for Iranian state TV. Since then, its satellite signals have dropped. Iran has not offered any details on its materiel losses.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that in addition to at least 555 deaths, 131 cities have come under attack so far in the war.
Iran strikes Israel and US bases in retaliation A top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, said Monday on social media: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”
Iran launched retaliatory missiles and drones targeting Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting US forces. Three US service members have been killed, according to US Central Command.
Several US warplanes crashed Monday in Kuwait, the country’s defense ministry said, with all the pilots safely bailing out. It did not elaborate on what caused the crashes but it came during an intense period of Iranian fire targeting the country. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The island kingdom of Bahrain said Monday that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.
Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, says it has intercepted 61 missiles and 34 attack drones launched against it. Some fire has gotten through, striking buildings and the naval base.
Eleven people have been killed in Israel as loud explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv. Israel’s rescue services said that nine people were killed and more wounded in a strike that hit a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh.
Iran’s foreign minister has suggested his country’s military units are acting independently from any central government control after being pressed about attacks on Gulf Arab nations that have served as intermediaries for Tehran in the past.
An Iraqi Shiite militia claimed a drone attack Monday targeting US troops at the airport in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.
Fire and smoke poured out of the US Embassy compound in Kuwait after an Iranian attack on the small Mideast nation Monday. Video obtained by The Associated Press showed the smoke with an alarm wailing.
Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack Monday from drones, the kingdom’s defense ministry said, with authorities downing the incoming aircraft.
Israel hits Lebanon, orders people to leave villages Israel’s Chief of Staff says the military has launched an offensive campaign in Lebanon that could include “many prolonged days of combat ahead.” Hezbollah launched several rockets and drones toward Israel overnight, and Israel responded by striking dozens of targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Israel also recommended that residents of 53 villages in southern Lebanon evacuate, causing massive traffic jams.
Israel is keeping “all options on the table” for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, according to Israel’s military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked it have killed at least 31 people, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Monday. The Health Ministry said that the strikes also wounded 149 people. It said about two thirds of the dead were in southern Lebanon.
The war reverberates around the world At least 22 people were killed in clashes with police in northern Pakistan and in the southern port city of Karachi after hundreds of protesters stormed the US Consulate there, authorities said.
Shipping companies suspended their vessels’ traffic through the Suez Canal. The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A fifth of worldwide traded oil passes through the strait.
There were global repercussions from disrupted air travel in the region, with hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.
The United Arab Emirates said it is shutting the country’s main stock exchanges for the start of the trading week.
