Iran vowed revenge Sunday after the killing of its supreme leader and traded strikes with Israel following US and Israeli bombardments. The US military said three service members were killed, marking the first American casualties in the conflict.
Blasts in Tehran sent smoke into the sky near government buildings. Iranian authorities said more than 200 people had died since the strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders.
Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states, while Israel pledged "non-stop" strikes against Iranian leaders and military. In Israel, missile impacts and interceptions caused explosions in Tel Aviv.
Rescue services said nine people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike that hit a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, raising Israel’s death toll to 11. Eleven people were still missing, police said, as rescue crews searched the rubble.
The US military said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. President Donald Trump said the military had sunk nine Iranian warships.
The strikes and counterattacks show the potential for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East following Khamenei’s death and Trump’s calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
In Tehran, there was little sign that Iranians had heeded Trump’s call for an uprising. Witnesses told The Associated Press that the streets were mostly empty as people sheltered during airstrikes.
The paramilitary Basij has set up checkpoints across the city. In southern Iran, at least 165 people were killed when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, state-run IRNA reported.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area, and the US military said it was investigating. The US military said three service members were killed and five seriously wounded. Several others suffered minor injuries and concussions.
Last June, Israeli and American strikes weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership, and nuclear program.
The killing of Khamenei, who ruled for more than three decades, creates a leadership vacuum and increases the risk of regional instability. The CIA had tracked senior Iranian leaders, including Khamenei, for months, a source said.
Intelligence was shared with Israel, and the timing of the strikes was partially adjusted based on that information. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a new leadership council had begun work.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said a new supreme leader would be chosen in "one or two days." A senior White House official said Sunday that "new potential leadership" in Iran suggested they are open for talks with the United States.
Some in Tehran cheered from rooftops, while others mourned as a black flag was raised over the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
"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."
Trump warned against retaliation. "THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT," he wrote on social media. "IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!"
In Pakistan, hundreds stormed the US Consulate in Karachi. Police and paramilitary forces used batons and tear gas, and at least nine people were killed.
Iran launched missiles and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries hosting US forces. The air war could affect global markets if the Strait of Hormuz becomes unsafe. Around 20 per cent of the world’s traded oil passes through the waterway.
Attacks hit US bases in Bahrain and the UAE, a hotel in Dubai, and Kuwait’s international airport. At least four people were killed in strikes on Gulf countries.
Araghchi blamed the US and Israel for starting the war and urged Gulf countries to pressure them to end it. Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said Sunday Israel would have "a non-stop air train" of strikes against Iranian targets.
The US said it had struck an Iranian warship in the Gulf of Oman, now sinking. Flights were disrupted, and air defense fire could be heard over Dubai.
Khamenei had final say on all major policies since 1989, leading the clerical establishment and Revolutionary Guard. An Iranian medical professional in northern Iran said he spent Sunday celebrating Khamenei’s death indoors due to heavy security.
"It was one of the best nights, if not the best night of our lives," the doctor said. "It was actually my first time ever smoking a cigarette. It was a very very nice time. We didn't sleep at all. And we don't even feel tired."
The Trump administration had built up the largest American warship and aircraft force in the Middle East in decades. Democrats criticized the action as unauthorized by Congress.
Although Trump had claimed Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed last year, the country was rebuilding infrastructure, a US official said. Intelligence suggested Iran could produce high-quality centrifuges needed for weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. Trump announced Sunday that the US military was sinking Iran’s navy, having destroyed nine warships and targeting the rest.
"They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea," he said.
Some Iranian citizens were blocked from crossing into Turkey at Khoy border gate, while Turkish authorities and Iran’s embassy said crossings were open. Travelers reported long queues and technical delays.
Turkey held a border security meeting to review measures against irregular migration. Israel launched new strikes on Tehran Sunday as Iran worked to rebuild leadership amid its biggest challenge in five decades.
