The China Mail - Iran war spreads across region as Israel strikes Hezbollah

Israeli forces pounded targets across Lebanon including Beirut, after Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed armed Shiite Muslim movement fired rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Large-scale strikes" were also ongoing in the heart of Tehran, Israeli forces said, as the US military widened its targets across Iran on Sunday.

Retaliating against the heavy strikes that Washington said destroyed the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian forces fired missiles and drones across the Middle East, claiming lives in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Fresh explosions were heard across Doha, Dubai and Manama on Monday morning, AFP correspondents reported.

Trump vowed to avenge the first US deaths, telling the New York Times that the United States and Israel could keep up the same level of attacks for four to five weeks.

"It won't be difficult. We have tremendous amounts of ammunition," he said, adding he had a shortlist of three unnamed people he favoured to lead Iran after the war.

But Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Tehran's Supreme National Security Council voiced defiance.

Iran "will not negotiate with the United States," he wrote on X, adding that "Trump plunged the region into chaos with his 'delusional fantasies' and now fears more American troop casualties."

- 'Most punishing blow' -

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged Iranians to overthrow the government in Iran, the sworn foe of Israel and the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western shah.

In a video address, Trump urged Iranian security forces "to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death."

"It will be certain death," he repeated. "It won't be pretty."

The Pentagon said that three US service members were killed in the operation and five seriously wounded in the operation it has called "Epic Fury."

"Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends," Trump said.

"But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization."

Trump, who campaigned denouncing foreign interventions, has done little to explain the case for war to the US public.

- Attacks across Middle East -

Explosions rocked Beirut before dawn and southern Lebanon residents fled, according to AFP journalists, after the Israeli military announced it was striking both parts of the country.

In the city of Sidon, cars of families escaping from further south packed roads, an AFP journalist said, adding some vehicles had mattresses tied to the roof.

Hezbollah, which was weakened by an earlier Israeli offensive, said it had fired rockets and drones at Israel "in retaliation for the pure blood" of Khamenei -- the first time it has claimed such an attack since a November 2024 ceasefire agreement following a year of war between them.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government has pushed for Hezbollah's disarmament, called Monday's rocket fire "irresponsible".

Such action "endangers Lebanon's security and safety, and gives Israel pretexts to continue its attacks on it", Salam said on X.

In Israel, an Iranian missile attack killed at least nine people and injured dozens more in the central city of Beit Shemesh, after a death the previous day near Tel Aviv.

Three people were also injured on one of the main roads of Jerusalem.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose elected role is subordinate to that of the supreme leader, called Khamenei's killing a "declaration of war against Muslims."

"Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators," Pezeshkian said.

- 'Rise up' -

Israel and the United States attacked Iran weeks after authorities ruthlessly crushed mass protests, killing thousands.

The demonstrations, initially sparked by economic anxiety but also including calls for greater social freedoms, were considered one of the most serious threats to the religious state.

Trump called on Iranians to rise up and said, "America is with you."

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, cautioned Iranians to stay vigilant in the face of air strikes and await the right moment to return to the streets.

But he also urged "nightly chants" against the Islamic republic.

Cheers were heard as some Iranians celebrated reports of the death of Khamenei, but after state media confirmed his killing, pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting "Death to America!"

Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to lead the country while a permanent successor is found for the supreme leader.

- Mixed support -

While many in the Iranian diaspora cheered Khamenei's death, anger was seen on the streets of Iran's neighbor Pakistan where officials said 17 people were killed and protesters tried to storm the US consulate in Karachi.

World leaders have given a mixed reaction to the attack, which came two days after Iran and the United States held talks on Tehran's nuclear program.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he would let the United States use UK bases for "defensive" strikes but that his country -- a steadfast partner in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- "will not join offensive action now."

Iran's first retaliatory strikes on Saturday hit all the Gulf states apart from mediator Oman.

On Sunday, Oman's commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said.

Three ships were also attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after Iran had previously declared the strategic waterway was closed, sending global oil prices spiking.

The Revolutionary Guards claimed to strike the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, but the Pentagon said the "missiles launched didn't even come close."

Trump said that US military strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed its navy headquarters.

Iran's retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.

Inside Iran, the Red Crescent in its last toll issued on Saturday evening said that strikes had killed 201 people and injured hundreds more.

Iran's judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.

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