The first reports of explosions in the Iranian capital Tehran came shortly after 7 a.m. Saturday, local time in Sweden. Israel says it launched a “preemptive strike.”
The attacks were reported to be nationwide. Iran and Israel are closing their respective airspaces, and in Iran the mobile network was reportedly down.
US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US was engaged in a “major combat operation” aimed at militarily crushing Iran. He called on the Iranian people to overthrow the regime.
On Saturday morning, there were reports of explosions following Iranian counterattacks against northern Israel. Iran announced that it had fired “the first wave” of drones and rockets at Israel. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait - all of which host US bases - reported that they had been attacked and had shot down Iranian missiles in their airspace.
Spread to Lebanon
Late Saturday night, US President Donald Trump announced that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed. Mohammad Pakpour, leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, and Army Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi were also killed in the attacks.
On Sunday, Israel and the US carried out more attacks on Iran, and Iran continued to attack Israel. At the same time, explosions were reported from several cities in countries around the Persian Gulf.
On Monday night, the Iran-allied Islamist movement Hezbollah in Lebanon launched rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel. They were met with a large number of Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, where around 50 people were reported killed on Monday.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to attack Iran and the capital, Tehran, during the night.
Iran on Monday accused the United States of attacking the nuclear facility in Natanz on Sunday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against targets in Lebanon and Iran. At the same time, Iran continued to target several countries in the Middle East with drone attacks. Among other incidents, the US embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, was hit and a small fire broke out.
Hundreds killed
The Israeli military said soldiers had been sent across the border to several locations in southern Lebanon as a “defensive measure.” At least 30,000 Lebanese were forced to flee, according to the UN refugee agency.
The Iranian Red Crescent said early Tuesday that at least 787 people had been killed in Iran since the war began. A mass funeral for more than 160 victims was being held in Minab in southern Iran, following what Iranian state media described as an Israeli-American attack on a girls' school in the city.
During the night of Wednesday, several people were reported killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The rocket attacks between Israel and Iran continued, causing explosions and airstrikes.
The US military command Centcom said the country had hit nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since Saturday. According to the US, Iran had fired over 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones in retaliatory attacks.
