Eight killed in strike on central Israel as Iran vows to step-up retaliation
The US and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in military action launched on Saturday.
Eight people have been killed in a strike in central Israel after Iran vowed to step-up its retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader in the surprise US and Israeli attack that launched the widening war.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said 28 people were injured in the explosion in Beit Shemesh on Sunday and searches are ongoing for additional victims. Elsewhere, loud explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, a massive explosion rocked Iran’s capital as Israel said it would carry out “non-stop strikes” against its leaders and military.
The blasts in Tehran – whose target was not immediately clear – sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky. It happened in the area of the national police headquarters and Iranian state television, as well as Tehran’s Revolutionary Court and a defence ministry building.
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it is not aware of any Israeli or American strikes in the area of a school in southern Iran where more than 100 people died.
State-run IRNA news agency said a strike hit an all-girls school in the town of Minab on Saturday.
The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and US President Donald Trump’s calls for the overthrow of the decades-old Islamic Republic, marked the start of a stunning new US intervention in the Middle East and potentially a prolonged war.
It is also a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars”. It is the second time in eight months the Trump administration has joined Israel in using military force against Iran.
In a 12-day war in June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defences, military leadership and nuclear programme. But the killing of Mr Khamenei and several top security officials creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.
“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”
Mr Trump warned any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.
As Iran targeted the wider Gulf area, the United Arab Emirates said on Sunday three people had been killed so far in Iranian attacks on the country.
The defence ministry said Iran had launched 165 ballistic missiles targeting the country, of which 152 were destroyed. Thirteen fell into the sea, it added.
Iran launched 541 bomb-carrying drones at the UAE, of which 506 were destroyed. Another 35 struck the country, killing three people from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, while 58 others were wounded.
In a sign that the attack could spread instability throughout the region, at least nine people were killed in clashes with police as hundreds of people stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Sunday, smashing windows.
Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, said Mohammad Jawad, a police official. Another eight protesters were injured.
After the initial strikes on Saturday, Iran immediately launched missiles and drones towards Israel and US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defence fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital, with explosions continuing into Sunday.
Shrapnel from Iranian attacks on the Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi killed two people, state media said, and debris from aerial interceptions caused fires at the city’s main port and on the facade of Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.
Attacks also extended into Oman – Iran’s long-time interlocutor with the West that had not been drawn into the fray previously.
Saudi Arabia condemned Iran’s attacks on its capital, Riyadh, and eastern region, saying it had successfully intercepted them. The kingdom noted that it had not allowed its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran.
Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles. Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar also said they had intercepted projectiles on Sunday morning.
