DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —A massive explosion struck Iran’s capital Sunday as the Israeli military said it was striking targets in central Tehran. Earlier, Iran fired missiles at an ever-widening list of targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the United States and Israel.
The blast in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky and shook the ground. It appeared centered in neighborhoods home to the country’s police headquarters and Iranian state television, as well as Tehran’s Revolutionary Court and a Defense Ministry building.
The joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran followed weeks of tensions as the Trump administration built up the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades. The president insisted he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. Iran responded to the U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and targeting U.S. military installations in the region.
- Khamenei has no known successor: The killing of the 86-year-old supreme leader appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum, given that he had final say on all major policies during his decades in power.
- Iran’s chief of army staff and defense minister killed in airstrike: Iran’s chief of army staff and defense minister were killed in an airstrike targeting a meeting of the country’s defense council, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
US priority is Iran's ‘vast missile arsenal'
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee says a priority for its joint military campaign is Iran’s “vast missile arsenal.”
Republican Tom Cotton of Arkansas told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that those missiles threatened American troops “from bases as far flung as the Indian Ocean to Western Europe.”
“We’re stopping a lot of them from being fired before Iran can fire them. It’s much easier to kill the archer on the ground than it is to shoot his arrows out of the sky,” he said in the television interview.
Israel says it its strikes killed 40 top Iranian military officials
Israel’s military claimed Sunday that its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials, including the chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Israel did not provide evidence, and neither Iran nor the United States immediately commented on the claim.
The Israeli military also said it had “dismantled the majority of the aerial defense systems in western and central Iran” and was “paving the way towards establishing aerial superiority over the skies of Tehran.”
Egypt’s leader warns of chaos in the Middle East
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt has warned that the Middle East could slide into chaos as the conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran entered a second day.
He called for “dialogue and peaceful means” to settle the region’s crises, saying that the escalation has serious consequences that could push the Mideast into chaos. El-Sissi’s comments came in a phone call Sunday with Oman’s leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, according to the Egyptian leader’s office.
Pope urges an end to the conflict
Pope Leo XIV said Sunday he was “profoundly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”
In the Holy See’s first reaction to the attacks, the American pope called for the resumption of diplomacy and a “reasonable, authentic and responsible” dialogue based on justice.
Weapons only sow “destruction, pain and death," he said from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at his traditional noontime blessing.
China calls killing of Iran's supreme leader ‘unacceptable’
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi sharply criticized the killing of Khamenei in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“The blatant killing of the leader of a sovereign state and the incitement of regime change are unacceptable,” he was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency. “These actions violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.”
He said attacking a sovereign state without U.N. Security Council authorization undermines the foundation for peace established after World War II.
“The international community should speak in a clear and unequivocal voice, opposing the world regressing to the law of the jungle,” he said.
British warplanes poised to knock out Iranian missiles and drones
British Defense Minister John Healey said Iranian missile and drone strikes came within a few hundred yards (meters) of a group of 300 British military personnel in Bahrain and that two missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where the U.K. has bases.
“We don’t believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it’s an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region, and that requires us to act,” Healey told Sky News.
He said British planes will intercept any Iranian drones and missiles they see.
Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that reports suggesting missiles had been fired toward Cyprus are not valid and that “there is no indication whatsoever that any threat to the country has occurred.”
Putin, Hezbollah leader mourn Khamenei’s death
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
Putin on Sunday sent condolences to his Iranian counterpart, saying Khamenei will be remembered “as an outstanding statesman” who helped elevate Russian-Iranian relations.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, Naim Kassem, mourned Khamenei’s death in a U.S.-Israeli strike, and said: “We will fulfill our duty in confronting aggression.” He vowed that Hezbollah will not abandon its resistance of confronting American and Israeli “tyranny.”
3 people killed in the UAE
The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said Sunday that three people have been killed so far in Iranian attacks on the country.
The 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.
Iran has launched 97 ballistic missiles at Kuwait
Iran fired 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones at Kuwait since the start of the war between the U.S., Israel and Iran, the Gulf nation’s military said.
The military said in a statement interception operations led to shrapnel falling in parts of the county, causing “limited damage.”
On Saturday, the military said three Kuwaiti troops were wounded when shrapnel landed in the Ali Al Salem airbase.
At least 6 killed in Israel
Israel’s police said at least five people were killed and 23 others wounded in a strike that hit central Israel on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the rescue services said searches were ongoing for additional victims.
Iran has so far launched dozens of rockets at Israel.
Pakistani prime minister offers condolences over Khamenei's killing
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday conveyed his condolences to Tehran following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He said his country was gravely concerned about the violation of international law, as heads of state shouldn’t be targeted.
Saudi Arabia summons Iranian ambassador
This follows repeated Iranian attacks on the kingdom.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency said the country expressed “dismay, condemnation and denunciation of the Iranian attacks on the kingdom and the Gulf states.”
It added that the kingdom “will take all necessary measures to defend its security and protect its territory.”
Israel’s state plane moved to Berlin airport
Israel’s state plane has been moved to Berlin’s BER airport, according to a reporter at the German press agency, dpa, who said they saw the craft at the tarmac.
According to dpa, which quoted Flightradar data, the plane left Israel Saturday afternoon, circled over the Mediterranean for hours, and then landed in Berlin in the evening.
Israel’s state aircraft, “Wing of Zion,” is a Boeing 767 equipped for official government trips, serving both the president and the prime minister.
There have been no immediate comments from the Berlin airport or the Israeli embassy in Berlin.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemns Iranian attack on its capital
Saudi Arabia has condemned in “the strongest terms” Iran’s attacks on the capital, Riyadh and the eastern region, which it said were “successfully intercepted.”
The Saudi foreign ministry said Sunday in a statement the attacks came “despite the Iranian authorities’ knowledge that the Kingdom had affirmed it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran.”