Israeli strikes rock Tehran as Iran’s counterattacks widen

An explosion rocked Iran’s capital Sunday as Israel said it would carry out “non-stop strikes” against its leaders and military. Iran meanwhile fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader in the surprise US and Israeli attack that launched the widening war.
The blasts in Tehran — whose target was not immediately clear — sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area where there are government buildings. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed since the US and Israeli bombardment began.
Loud explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv. Israel’s rescue services said eight people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike in the central town of Beit Shemesh.
The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and US President Donald Trump’s calls for the overthrow of the decades-old Islamic Republic, marked the start of a stunning new US intervention in the Middle East and potentially a prolonged war.
It is also a startling show 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 joined Israel in using military force against Iran.
In a 12-day war in June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defences, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei and several top security officials creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that a new leadership council “has begun its work” as other top officials vowed revenge.
“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 stoke regional unrest, hundreds of people stormed the US 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 nine people were killed in the clashes, authorities said.