The United States carried out strikes on hundreds of targets across Iran on Monday, while Israel expanded its bombing campaign to Lebanon, as President Donald Trump vowed to avenge the first US casualties in the war he launched to overthrow Tehran’s ruling clerics.
Iranian forces retaliated by firing missiles and drones across the Middle East, killing people in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, following the conflict that began on Saturday with the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
The US military intensified its campaign on Sunday, striking multiple targets in Iran and destroying the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite unit responsible for upholding the theocracy established in 1979.
“The IRGC no longer has a headquarters,” US Central Command said in a statement.
The Israeli military reported conducting “large-scale strikes” in central Tehran on Monday and also bombing positions in Lebanon held by Hezbollah.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called for the overthrow of Iran’s government, the sworn adversary of both nations since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the pro-Western shah.
Speaking to the New York Times, Trump said the United States and Israel could sustain the attacks for four to five weeks. “It won’t be difficult. We have tremendous amounts of ammunition,” he said, adding that he had a shortlist of three unnamed individuals he favoured to lead Iran after the war.
In a video address, Trump urged Iranian security forces “to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death". He repeated, “It will be certain death. It won’t be pretty.”
The Pentagon confirmed that three US service members were killed and five seriously wounded in the operation, which it has codenamed “Epic Fury".
“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said. “But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilisation.”
Trump, who campaigned against foreign interventions, has provided little explanation to the US public for the rationale behind the war.
Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, described the soldiers’ deaths as the result of a “reckless decision” and said there was no threat to justify “this type of pre-emptive military strike".
Attacks across the Middle East
Iranian leaders voiced defiance, claiming their counter-attacks were acts of self-defence.
In Israel, an Iranian missile strike killed at least nine people and injured dozens more in the central city of Beit Shemesh, following a death near Tel Aviv the previous day. Three others were also injured on a major road in Jerusalem.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose elected role is subordinate to the supreme leader, described Khamenei’s killing as a “declaration of war against Muslims” and said, “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators.”
Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned: “Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.”
Israel and the US launched strikes against Iran weeks after authorities crushed mass protests, which killed thousands. The demonstrations, initially sparked by economic grievances but also calling for greater social freedoms, were considered one of the most serious challenges to the religious state.
Trump called on Iranians to rise up, saying, “America is with you.” Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah, urged caution, advising Iranians to remain vigilant amid air strikes while preparing to return to the streets, and encouraged “nightly chants” against the Islamic Republic.
Reports of Khamenei’s death prompted celebrations among some Iranians, while state media confirmation led to pro-government demonstrations chanting “Death to America!”
Iran appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to guide the country until a permanent successor for the supreme leader is selected.
Mixed reactions
While members of the Iranian diaspora welcomed Khamenei’s death, anger was reported in Pakistan, where officials said 17 people were killed and protesters attempted to storm the US consulate in Karachi.
World leaders reacted with a mixture of caution and support. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on Sunday that the UK would allow US forces to use British bases for “defensive” strikes but would “not join offensive action now".
Iran’s first retaliatory strikes on Saturday targeted all Gulf states except mediator Oman. On Sunday, Oman’s commercial port of Duqm was struck by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, according to the Oman News Agency.
Three ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran declared the strategic waterway closed, causing global oil prices to spike. The Revolutionary Guards claimed to have struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, but the Pentagon said the missiles “didn’t even come close".
Trump said US strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed the country’s naval headquarters.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have killed at least four people and wounded dozens. Inside Iran, the Red Crescent reported on Saturday evening that 201 people had been killed and hundreds more injured. Iran’s judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and Mohammad Pakpour, head of the Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.
