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The U.S. and Israel carried out strikes across Iran on Sunday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, with blasts reported in Tehran and other parts of the country. The Associated Press reported that the strikes included what U.S. and Israeli officials described as attacks on Iran’s ballistic missile sites and warships, as plumes of smoke rose over the capital. Iranian leaders said more than 200 people had been killed since the start of the strikes, as the campaign widened beyond the U.S., Israel and Iran.

As the bombardment continued, the conflict spread through the region and drew in other militaries and armed groups. Iran-supported militants in Iraq and Lebanon claimed attacks on Israel and on a U.S. base, while Gulf states warned they could retaliate after strikes hit key sites and killed civilians. After Britain said it would allow the U.S. to use its bases, Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the island.

Iran vowed revenge as it fired missiles at Israel and at Arab states in a counteroffensive. The AP reported that the missile and drone campaign killed three U.S. service members, the first known American casualties from the conflict, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The U.S. military later said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs, and President Donald Trump said on social media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”

Israel announced waves of fighter jet attacks, targeting buildings associated with Iran’s air force, its missile command and its internal security force, which the AP reported has quashed anti-government protests in January. Israeli rescue services said the strikes hit multiple locations including Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded. That brought the reported death toll in Israel-controlled reporting to 11, the AP said, as the overall count in Iran rose under Iranian officials’ figures.

During the same period, Iran’s retaliatory strikes reached into cities beyond its immediate targets, including in parts of the Gulf. The AP reported that three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain. UAE authorities said most Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted, but some either got through or fell as debris; Bahrain and Kuwait said Iranian strikes hit civilian targets outside U.S. bases where Iran had pledged to retaliate.

In Iraq and Lebanon, Iran-backed groups also entered the conflict. In Iraq, the Shiite militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in Baghdad; the U.S. and Iraq did not immediately comment, but a security official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the attack occurred. In Lebanon, the AP reported that Israel launched strikes on Beirut after Hezbollah fired missiles across the Lebanon-Israel border early Monday, with the AP saying Hezbollah’s first claimed Israel strike in more than a year followed Khamenei’s killing. Hezbollah said its strikes were retaliation for Khamenei’s death and for “repeated Israeli aggressions,” according to the AP, while Israeli officials said Hezbollah had “joined the campaign” alongside Iran.

In Tehran, witnesses described the country as tense but largely quiet. The AP reported that streets were largely deserted as people sheltered during airstrikes, with the paramilitary Basij setting up checkpoints across the city. It also reported that an Iranian medical professional said he and colleagues spent the early hours of Sunday celebrating Khamenei’s death indoors because security forces were still heavily deployed, and that there were forces stopping and interrogating people celebrating in their cars.

Outside the capital, the AP reported that in southern Iran at least 165 people were killed Saturday when a girls’ school was struck, with IRNA reporting dozens more were wounded. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area, while the U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.

Amid the violence, Iran’s leadership transition began immediately after Khamenei’s death. As supreme leader, Khamenei had final say on major policies since 1989, the AP said, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and the Revolutionary Guard. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a prerecorded message that a new leadership council had started work, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a new supreme leader would be chosen in “one or two days.” In a televised address, Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said, “You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” and the AP reported he added that Iran would deliver “such devastating blows” that the other side would be driven to beg.

Trump, meanwhile, signaled openness to contact even as the conflict intensified. The AP said Trump, who had encouraged Iranians the day before to “take over” their government, told The Atlantic: “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them.” In a separate social media warning, he told would-be retaliators: “IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

The AP also reported details from an Israeli military official who described the Saturday mission against Iran’s leadership as the result of months of “extremely high coordination” with the U.S. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said weeks of training and monitoring, along with “real time intelligence” that targets were gathered together, created a “golden opportunity.” The official said the results included near-simultaneous strikes within 60 seconds of one another at three locations about 1,000 miles from Israel, killing Khamenei and some 40 senior figures, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard and Iran’s defense minister.


Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel; Boak from West Palm Beach, Florida; and Tucker from Washington.