Good morning; Sam’s away. The Middle East is now at war on multiple fronts. Israel is striking Lebanon to target the militant group Hezbollah. We have all the latest news below.
The war expands
The war against Iran is getting bigger and deadlier. American and Israeli strikes have pummeled Iran on land and at sea. Iran’s retaliatory drones and missiles flew toward targets across the Middle East. And Israel is now striking Lebanon. In an interview last night, President Trump told The Times that the assault could last “four to five weeks.” Today’s newsletter is a guide to what we know about the war, which has already killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Still shootingThe U.S. and Israel bombed more than 2,000 targets in Iran, which launched hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel and Persian Gulf countries. By air. The Israeli military said it had taken charge of the skies over Iran’s capital — and demolished Iranian air defense systems, missile launchers, command centers and government headquarters. American stealth bombers, armed with 2,000-pound bombs, struck Iran’s “hardened” ballistic missile facilities, the U.S. military said. Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel, forcing much of the country into fortified shelters. Nine people were killed in a city near Jerusalem. Iran also unleashed cheap kamikaze drones — the same ones deployed to deadly effect on battlefields in Ukraine — across the Gulf. Videos verified by The Times show them slamming into apartments, hotels and military bases. A drone also struck the American embassy compound in Kuwait. The attacks have cracked the image of oil-rich Gulf countries as safe havens in a volatile region. Here’s one strike in Bahrain; watch from the left:
At sea. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had attacked three American or British oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. Videos verified by The Times showed a tanker ablaze off the coast of Oman, although that vessel had no ties to the U.S. or Britain. Trump said the U.S. sank nine Iranian warships and would destroy the rest of the country’s navy. Casualties. American and Israeli strikes across Iran have killed 555 people, the Iranian Red Crescent said. And Iran killed three American soldiers at a base in Kuwait, the first Americans to die so far in the war. Iranian strikes also killed five people in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, which all host U.S. military bases, and four people were killed in Syria, according to official reports. A strike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran killed at least 175 people, most of them likely children, state media said. It was not immediately clear why the school was hit, or which country’s forces had fired at it. More to come. Trump predicted there would be more casualties and said operations would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.” He did not specify what the objectives were. In Trump’s interview with The Times, he suggested a potential outcome similar to the one he engineered in Venezuela, in which the United States removed the top leader but the remaining government worked pragmatically with Washington. Inside IranIsrael said some 40 senior Iranian officials were killed in the initial strikes, including seven military commanders. Who’s in charge? Iran’s top national security official announced that an interim committee would run the country until clerics chose a successor to Khamenei. Negotiations. Trump told The Atlantic magazine that Iran’s new leadership had reached out. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said. “They should have done it sooner.” But early this morning, a top Iranian official said that Iran would not negotiate with the United States. The context. The government’s power at home and in the region has rarely been weaker since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, writes Steven Erlanger: Even if the government hangs on, “this massive attack is likely to have strategic consequences in the Middle East comparable to the collapse of the Soviet Union.” A reckoning among Iranians. A sense of disbelief fell over Iran’s capital, Tehran, yesterday as the country came to grips with Khamenei’s death, Christina Goldbaum reports. Reactions diverged: Between waves of bombs, some in Tehran cheered the possible end of the regime, and crowds gathered in some places to celebrate Khamenei’s demise. Hours later, tearful mourners emerged to grieve him. Click on the video below to see how the strikes are affecting Iranians.
Across the regionThe war is growing even more volatile, pulling in Iran’s proxy forces and supporters across the region. In Lebanon. Early this morning, Hezbollah said it launched rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the death of Khamenei. Israel responded with attacks on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon and around Beirut. Lebanon’s state media reported that at least 31 civilians had been killed. In Pakistan. At least 22 people were killed in protests across the country against the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. In Saudi Arabia. Parts of an oil refinery were closed after an attack by Iranian drones. Oil prices have spiked, and countries including Saudi Arabia and Iraq said they would increase oil production to offset the rising prices. The war is already rippling across the global economy. Some shipping companies are avoiding the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea, and many airlines have suspended flights in Dubai and Qatar, whose airports connect Europe, Asia and Australia. See photos of the war across the Middle East. And follow the latest news here.
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