War in the Mideast widens as Trump says strikes on Iran could last several weeks

“This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the U.N., said the conflict would continue “as long as it takes.” An Israeli military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel is keeping “all options on the table,” including a potential ground invasion of Lebanon.

The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles while Iran was attacking with aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones. U.S. Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition.

As several airstrikes hit Iran’s capital, Tehran, the top security official Ali Larijani vowed on X: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”

The death toll grew on all sides.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the U.S.-Israeli operation has killed at least 555 people. In Israel, where several locations were hit by Iranian missiles, 11 people were killed. Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah killed dozens of people in Lebanon.

The U.S. military announced that two previously unaccounted for servicemembers have been confirmed dead, bringing the total to six, while three people were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran’s top diplomat on Monday shared an aerial photo showing rows of graves that he said were for more than 160 girls killed during a U.S.-Israeli strike on an elementary school in Minab. “Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, said on X.

In Israel, three young siblings killed by a deadly Iranian missile strike were being laid to rest at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on Monday night. Yaakov, 16, Avigail 15, and Sarah Biton, 13, were among the nine killed Sunday when a missile slammed into a shelter located in a synagogue in Beit Shemesh.

Iran expands attacks to regional oil infrastructure

With world markets already rattled by the fighting, QatarEnergy said it would stop producing liquefied natural gas, taking one of the world’s top suppliers off the market. It offered no timeline for restoring production. European natural gas prices surged by 40% in response.

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack from drones, and its defenses downed the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude oil a day.

Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes and where Iran has threatened attacks.

The Gulf state of Qatar said its air force had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.

“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

The Gulf is also a hub for air travel, and passengers have been stranded around the world as carriers based there grounded flights. Long-haul carriers Etihad and Emirates restarted limited flights Monday.

Iran says nuclear site was targeted

Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters that airstrikes targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.

“Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” he said.

Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the U.S. bombed in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. Israel has said it is targeting the “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”

Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to do so while saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

Hezbollah fires on Israel, prompting massive response

Hezbollah said it fired missiles on Israel early Monday in response to Khamenei’s killing and “repeated Israeli aggressions.” It was the first time in more than a year that the militant group has claimed an attack.

There were no reports of injuries or damage from those attacks.

Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon. The country’s Health Ministry reported at least 52 people were killed and 154 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon. Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by loud explosions that shook buildings and shattered windows.

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army chief of staff, said the military would not end its offensive against Hezbollah “before the threat from Lebanon is eliminated.”

The Israeli military said it had completed a wave of strikes targeting branches of al-Qard al-Hasan, a charity operating outside the Lebanese financial system that Israel says is used to fund Hezbollah’s military wing. An Israeli airstrike in Beirut heavily damaged a building, as the military said it targeted a senior Hezbollah official.

In Iraq, the Iran-allied militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. It claimed another drone attack on Sunday against a U.S. air base in Iraq’s north.

No end in sight to the US-Israeli campaign

The U.S. military said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. The U.S. military said Monday it had taken out 11 Iranian warships in the Gulf of Oman. Trump asserted a day earlier that the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday the U.S. is not engaged in a nation-building effort in Iran, and that there is a clear mission. “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” Hegseth said.

It’s not completely clear what the U.S. objectives are. In announcing the initial strikes, Trump referred to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. But he also listed various grievances dating back to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and urged Iranians to “take over” their government.

There have been no signs yet of any such uprising.

Trump, however, has also signaled he would be open to dialogue with Iran’s new leadership — which could be chosen soon.

In an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations, Britain, France and Germany said Sunday they were ready to work with the U.S. to help stop Iran’s attacks.

Tehran’s streets are deserted

Tehran’s streets have been largely deserted with people sheltering during airstrikes. The paramilitary Basij force, which has played a central role in crushing recent nationwide protests, set up checkpoints across the city, witnesses said.

In the northern Iranian city of Babol, a student, speaking anonymously over concerns of retribution, told the AP that armed riot police were on the streets Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday after the death of Khamenei.

“We don’t know whether to be happy about the elimination of the criminals who oppress us or to remain silent in the face of the U.S. and Israel’s war against the country and its interests and the terror that is taking place,” he said.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Jon Gambrell, Melanie Lidman And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

War in the Mideast widens as Trump says strikes on Iran could last several weeks

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