The intensity of the attacks on both sides, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, and the lack of any apparent exit plan indicated the conflict would not end any time soon. It was already have far-reaching consequences across the region and beyond: Previously safe havens in the Mideast like Dubai have seen incoming fire; hundreds of thousands of airline passengers are stranded around the globe; oil prices shot up; and U.S. allies pledged to help stop Iranian missiles and drones.
If attacked, Iran has long threatened to drag the region into total war, including targeting Israel the Gulf Arab states and the flow of crude oil crucial for global energy markets. All these things came under attack on Monday.
QatarEnergy, in fact, said it would stop its production of liquefied natural gas because of the conflict, taking one of the world’s top suppliers off the market. It offered no timeline for restoring its production.
The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission while attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones were underway. U.S. Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the U.S.-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country having come under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel and 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities there.
Lebanon's government said Hezbollah’s overnight attack against Israel were “illegal” and demanded the group hand over its weapons. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said only the state can decide whether to go to war or peace, and called on the Lebanese military to prevent the firing of projectiles and detain anyone involved.
In Kuwait, fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy compound.
On Monday afternoon, multiple airstrikes hit Tehran, Iran’s capital, while top Iranian security official Ali Larijani vowed on X that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting U.S. troops at the Baghdad airport, the day after it said it fired at a U.S. base in the city of Irbil in the north, and Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the Mediterranean island nation.
Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
