Explosions pound Tehran as death toll climbs
Explosions were heard in Iran’s capital as the war with the USA and Israel entered its fifth day, following previous attacks on Iran’s nuclear site and the Islamic Republic’s retaliatory attacks in the Gulf region.
Iranian state television reported explosions around Tehran at dawn on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israel said its air defenses were activated due to missile fire from Iran.
Nearly 800 people were killed in Iran on the fifth day of a war that US President Donald Trump said would last several weeks or longer; Among them are people Trump has said he sees as potential future leaders of the country.
The explosions also hit Lebanon, where Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah militants.
Lebanon’s state media reported that at least four people were killed in an attack targeting a housing complex in the Israeli city of Baalbeck.
A day earlier, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran’s missile launchers and a nuclear research facility, and Iran responded to Israel and others, targeting US embassies and disrupting energy supplies and travel.
There were drone attacks on the American embassy in Saudi Arabia and the US consulate in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, but most of the incoming fire was intercepted. 11 people have been killed in Israel since the conflict began.
In other developments, the Pentagon identified four U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a drone attack on a command center in Kuwait on Sunday. Two more soldiers were also killed in the strike.
The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end.
The Trump administration has proposed several goals, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, destroying its navy, preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons and ensuring it cannot continue supporting allied armed groups.
While the initial US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump called on Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said regime change was not the goal.
Trump on Tuesday appeared to downplay the war’s chances of ending Iran’s theocratic rule, saying an “insider” of the Iranian regime might be the best choice to seize power once the US-Israeli campaign ends.
Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s ousted shah, is not someone his administration is deeply considering taking over.
As far as leaders in Iran are concerned, “the people we had in mind are dead,” Trump said.
“I guess the worst case would be to do this and then have someone take over who’s just as bad as the last person, right? That could happen,” Trump said.
“We don’t want that to happen.”
Iranian leaders are trying to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have hit nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since the war began.
In a video posted on X, Cooper said the US had “severely disrupted Iran’s air defenses” and neutralized hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
“We’re just getting started,” Cooper said.
Satellite images released by Colorado-based company Vantor show the domed roof of Iran’s presidential complex in Tehran has collapsed, supporting Israel’s claim of an overnight attack.
The Israeli military also said it launched airstrikes on Iranian facilities that produce and store ballistic missiles and destroyed what it called Iran’s secret underground nuclear headquarters. It stated, without providing evidence, that the site was used to “develop a key component for nuclear weapons.”
Iran announced that it has not enriched uranium since June.
An attack by two drones on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire,” according to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense, and the embassy urged Americans to stay away from the compound.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Washington that an Iranian drone crashed into the parking lot outside the US consulate in Dubai, causing a small fire. He said all personnel were registered.
US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon are closed to the public.
The US State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and families in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. And U.S. citizens have been urged to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, but many remain stranded due to airspace closures.
The State Department said it was preparing military and charter flights for Americans who want to leave the Middle East. Other countries were organizing flights for their citizens.
According to the Red Crescent Society, at least 787 people died in Iran in US-Israeli attacks.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 50 people, including seven children, were killed in Lebanon, where Israel carried out retaliatory attacks on the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Kuwait, which had previously reported a single death, said Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl was killed by shrapnel while Kuwaiti forces were engaging “hostile air targets.” Additionally, three people died in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.
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