Explosions were heard across the Iranian capital before dawn on Wednesday as the country’s escalating conflict with the United States and Israel entered its fifth day, marking one of the deadliest periods of fighting in the region in decades.
The recent explosions in Tehran came days after continued US-Israeli air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites and comprehensive retaliatory attacks launched by Tehran on Israeli territory and US assets across the Gulf.Iranian state television reported explosions in the vicinity of Tehran at dawn, while Israel said that its air defenses were activated due to missile launches from Iran.Israel launched what it described as a “wide wave” of new strikes targeting Iranian defense systems and missile launch sites.
The previous day, Israel carried out air strikes against Iranian missile launchers and a nuclear research site.Follow live updates of the war between the US, Israel and IranIsraeli military spokesman Brig. General Yves Devrin said the army struck a building in the Iranian city of Qom where clerics were expected to meet to discuss the selection of the new supreme leader. He added that the army was still assessing whether anyone had been injured.The Israeli army said it also launched air strikes on Iranian sites that produce and store ballistic missiles and destroyed what it described as Iran’s secret underground nuclear headquarters.
Without providing evidence, she said the site was used for research “to develop a key component for nuclear weapons.”Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, although it reserves the right to do so and says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran retaliates via Israel and the Gulf
Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, but most of them were intercepted. 11 people have been killed in Israel since the conflict began.Tehran confirmed that it targeted multiple sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – countries that host US military air bases – according to Fars News Agency.“This operation will continue unabated until the enemy is decisively defeated,” the IRGC said, adding that all US assets in the region are considered legitimate targets of the Iranian Armed Forces.A two drone attack on the US Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire,” according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense. The embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound and later closed it to the public.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that an Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the US Consulate in Dubai, causing a small fire. The Dubai government media office said that the authorities put out a limited fire in the vicinity of the consulate due to a drone strike.On Monday, the CIA headquarters at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia was bombed by a suspected Iranian drone, according to a source familiar with the matter.‘We’re just getting started’: US says it has bombed more than 2,000 targets in Iran – most important developments
US evictions and regional implications
The US State Department has allowed non-essential US government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia and Oman “due to safety risks,” according to guidelines from the US embassies in Riyadh and Muscat.The ministry also ordered the evacuation of non-essential employees and their families in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
American citizens were urged to leave more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, although many were left stranded by airspace closures. The State Department said it was preparing military and charter flights for Americans wishing to leave the region.Oman, which played a mediating role in the talks between the United States and Iran, called for a ceasefire. Riyadh condemned the Iranian attacks, including the attack on the US embassy in Riyadh.The Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced the establishment of a special control room and issued helpline numbers to Indian citizens in view of the evolving situation in West Asia and the Gulf region.
Intensification of the American military campaign
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said US forces had struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran as part of what he described as the largest buildup of firepower in the region in a generation.“In simple terms, we are focused on shooting all the things that can shoot us,” Cooper said in a video message posted on X.“We are also sinking the Iranian navy, the entire navy,” he added. He added: “So far, we have destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including Iran’s most operational submarine, which now has a hole in its side.”“For decades, the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping,” Cooper said. “Today, there is not a single Iranian ship sailing in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman.” “And we won’t stop”He added: “We have already hit nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions.
“We have severely weakened Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.”“The first 24 hours of this operation were almost double the size” of the first day of shock and awe strikes on Iraq in 2003, he said, “and we continue to strike 24/7 on Iran.”The US military said it destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine.
Injuries escalate
US-Israeli strikes killed at least 787 people in Iran, according to the Red Crescent Society. Nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began, including some whom President Donald Trump has said he sees as potential future leaders of the country.In Lebanon, where Israel launched retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah fighters, at least 50 people were killed, including seven children, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Lebanon’s official media also reported that at least four people were killed in an Israeli raid that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbek.The US military confirmed that six US service members were killed. Four of them were identified as the captain.
Cody A. Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, Sergeant. 1st Class Nicole M. Omar and Sgt. Declan J. Cody, who was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Iowa. A drone strike Sunday on a command center in Kuwait killed four US Army reservists and two other service members, the Pentagon announced.Kuwait said that an 11-year-old girl was killed by shrapnel that fell while its forces were intercepting “hostile air targets.” Three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.
Uncertainty about Iranian leadership
US President Donald Trump said that Iran’s air and naval forces had been “destroyed” and that the new strikes targeted Iranian leadership. He pointed out that the war may last several weeks or more.Trump said that as for potential leaders inside Iran, “the people we were thinking about are dead.”“I think the worst case is that you do this, and then someone takes over for the person who is just as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen,” Trump said. “We don’t want that to happen.”While initial US-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said that regime change was not the goal. Trump later said that “someone from within” the Iranian regime may be the best choice to take power once the campaign is over.Israeli media reported that Mojtaba Khamenei, the second eldest son of Ali Khamenei, who is 56 years old, has been chosen as his successor, and the Assembly of Experts is expected to officially announce him. The New York newspaper reported K Times said that he had emerged as a major candidate and that the council elected him under pressure from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. There was no independent confirmation from Iranian official media.