The China Mail - US says 2,000 targets hit as Iran retaliates across Gulf

With global energy prices on the rise, President Donald Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint into the Gulf that Iran has threatened to seal off.

Israel's military said it launched a "broad wave of strikes" after midnight across Iran, which in the hours before had launched three separate missile barrages at Israel, causing mild injuries to a woman in Tel Aviv.

The US military has hit nearly 2,000 targets since attacking Iran alongside Israel on Saturday, targeting ballistic missiles and "all the things that can shoot at us", said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command.

"These forces bring a massive amount of firepower, representing the largest buildup by the US in the Middle East in a generation," he said in a video message, describing the first day's barrage as bigger than the so-called "shock and awe" against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003.

The US and Israeli attacks have killed 787 people in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, a toll that could not be independently confirmed by AFP.

Iran vowed to inflict a heavy price in retaliation. Drones struck adjacent the US consulate in Dubai, starting a fire but inflicting no casualties, and against the US military base at Al-Udeid in Qatar.

The attacks came a day after strikes on the US embassies in Riyadh and Kuwait City and on a US air base in Bahrain.

"We are saying to the enemy that if it decides to hit our main centres, we will hit all economic centres in the region," Islamic Revolutionary Guard General Ebrahim Jabbari said.

- Trump says no more talks -

The United States and Israel launched the attack on Saturday and quickly killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two days after US envoys had been speaking to Iran in Geneva on a nuclear accord.

Trump insisted that Iran wanted to resume talks but it was "too late".

He also walked back a statement the day before from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the US attack's timing was precipitated by Israel's plans.

"If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand," Trump said as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.

Trump boasted that "just about everything's been knocked out" in Iran, including its navy, air force and air detection, and said the attacks had killed even leaders who could have taken over.

"Most of the people we had in mind are dead," Trump said. "Now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports."

According to Iranian media, US and Israeli strikes targeted a building on Tuesday in the holy city of Qom belonging to the committee that is to elect a new supreme leader. The Tasnim news agency reported that strikes had already targeted the body's main headquarters in Tehran the day before.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged Iranians to rise up but Trump said regime change was not the goal.

The assault came weeks after Iranian authorities clamped down on mass protests, killing thousands.

- Lebanon violence expands -

The regional war also took a growing toll on Lebanon, where Hezbollah, the armed Shiite Muslim movement that long had Tehran as a benefactor, launched drones and rockets at Israel in retaliation for Khamenei's slaying.

Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli naval base in the northern city of Haifa and Israel said it struck Beirut's heavily Shiite southern suburbs. Loud explosions were heard early Wednesday.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 52 people in Lebanon, according to the government, while the United Nations said that more than 30,000 people were displaced.

In a throwback to earlier wars, Israel said it was moving troops across the border to create a buffer zone inside Lebanon.

In Tehran, photos showed damage to Mehrabad airport, which handles mainly domestic flights.

The Israeli military also announced a strike on an underground facility on the eastern outskirts of Tehran where it alleged scientists were covertly working on a nuclear programme.

The United States ordered non-emergency personnel to leave embassies in much of the region. The Washington Post reported that the Iranian drone in Riyadh hit the station of the CIA.

The United States encouraged all Americans to leave the region if they can find commercial flights, even though air travel has been severely disrupted.

The State Department said that some 9,000 Americans have found a way home.

Qatar said it had downed missiles targeting Hamad International Airport in Doha. Oman reported several drones attacking the port of Duqm, and in the UAE falling debris from an intercepted drone caused a fire at an oil storage and trading zone, authorities said.

- Ghost town -

In Tehran, residents who have not fled remained shut away in their homes for fear of the US-Israeli bombardment.

The Iranian capital is normally home to around 10 million people, but in recent days "there are so few people that you'd think no one ever lived here", said Samireh, a 33-year-old nurse.

Authorities had previously urged people to leave the city, and police officers, armed security forces and armoured vehicles have been stationed at main junctions, carrying out random checks on vehicles.

In the more upmarket north of Tehran, the meowing of cats and chirping of birds replaced the usual din of traffic jams.

Iranian authorities said a strike on a school in the city of Minab on the first day of the war killed more than 150 people. AFP has been unable to access the location independently to verify the toll or circumstances.

The US military began naming the first of six troops who have been killed. In Israel, nine people died Sunday when a missile hit the town of Beit Shemesh.

At least eight people have died across the Gulf.

The United States and Israel have received lukewarm support, with Western nations limiting involvement to helping Gulf states and repatriating citizens.

Canadian Prime Minister Jay Carney, who had backed the strikes, said Wednesday in Sydney that it was time for "rapid de-escalation".

burs/sct/jgc

M.Zhou--ThChM