Israeli strikes rock Tehran as Iran's counterattacks widen after the killing of the supreme leader

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An enormous explosion rocked Iran’s capital Sunday as the Israeli military said it was targeting the heart of the city. 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 — whose target was not immediately clear — 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.

Saturday's joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention, and carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war, representing a startling flexing of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.” It was the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic.

In a 12-day war in June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei and a call by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Iranian people to overthrow their government significantly raises the stakes — creating a leadership vacuum in the Islamic Republic and increasing the risk of regional instability.

Iran’s Cabinet vowed that this “great crime will never go unanswered” and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to target Israeli and American bases.

“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

Trump warned that any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.

“THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT,” Trump fired back in a social media post. “IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

In a sign of how the attack could spread instability throughout the region, hundreds of people stormed the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Sunday. Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and at least six people were killed in the clashes, authorities said.

Iran retaliates

After the initial strikes, Iran immediately launched missiles and drones toward Israel and into Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.

In repeated barrages at targets across Israel, one person was killed and more than 120 injured, according to authorities. Many missiles were intercepted, the military said.

Israeli strikes rock Tehran as Iran's counterattacks widen after the killing of the supreme leader