A visual guide to US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response

Missiles and bombs landed across Iran, hitting political and security targets in Tehran, including supreme leader’s residenceUS-Israeli attack on Iran – live updatesUS and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so farThe US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second day on Sunday, as news of the assassination of the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, shook the Islamic Republic and the wider region.Donald Trump announced Khamenei’s death while Israel claimed to have killed at least 40 senior Iranian commanders in the first day of attacks. Both countries continued to pound Iran, conducting hundreds of airstrikes across the country overnight and on Sunday.
Despite the apparent loss of a significant portion of its senior military and political leadership, Iran did not slow its retaliation on Sunday, bombing targets in the Gulf and unleashing waves of ballistic missiles towards Israel. Continue reading...

A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran on Sunday. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

Missiles and bombs landed across Iran, hitting political and security targets in Tehran, including supreme leader’s residence

US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

US and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so far

By William Christou, with visuals by Lucy Swan, Ashley Kirk, Chris Watson, Heidi Wilson, Boglarka Kosztolanyi, Maheen Sadiq and Bryony Moore

The US-Israeli war against Iran entered its second day on Sunday, as news of the assassination of the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, shook the Islamic Republic and the wider region.

Donald Trump announced Khamenei’s death while Israel claimed to have killed at least 40 senior Iranian commanders in the first day of attacks. Both countries continued to pound Iran, conducting hundreds of airstrikes across the country overnight and on Sunday.

Despite the apparent loss of a significant portion of its senior military and political leadership, Iran did not slow its retaliation on Sunday, bombing targets in the Gulf and unleashing waves of ballistic missiles towards Israel.

Footage released by the IDF purports to show strike on headquarters of Iranian regime

On Saturday, Israel announced the beginning of what it called Operation Lion’s Roar in tandem with Trump, which an Israeli military official said was intended to “degrade the regime’s capabilities”. They said operations would continue for “as long as necessary”.

Trump went further, saying in a video posted on his Truth Social platform as the assault began that the aim was regime change.

Donald Trump calls on Iranians to rise up against their government – video

Strikes hit across the country on Saturday and were followed up on Sunday with further rounds, including in central Tehran.

The strikes hit key security and political targets in Tehran, including Khamenei’s residence, and ballistic missile caches elsewhere in the country.

Map of US-Israeli strikes on Iran

Satellite footage showed black smoke coming from the supreme leader’s badly damaged compound, and Iranian state media later confirmed he had been killed.

Hundreds of strikes hit at least 14 cities across Iran in what an Israeli military official said was a much more wide-ranging campaign than the previous US-Israeli attack on Iran in the 12-day war last summer.

Before and after slide of supreme leader’s compound

Strikes were aimed at intelligence and security headquarters, homes of Iranian officials, as well as ballistic missile launchers and caches – a tactic intended to limit Iran’s ability to respond to the US and Israeli attacks. Israel also said it had targeted Iran’s air defence systems in the west of the country to help establish air supremacy.

Almost 150 people were killed and at least 95 wounded in a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, in the southern Hormozgan province, according to state media. The attack was verified by Reuters. There is an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base in the same city.

Footage from Minab, Iran, shows the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike on a girls' school – video

Reuters said it had verified the footage as being from the school.

Iran’s retaliation pushed past previous red lines that had excluded the Gulf from conflict. Much of the Middle East had been affected by Sunday.

Map of Iran’s retaliatory strikes

Iran struck targets including luxury hotels in Dubai and Bahrain and airports in Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain.

It also struck a port facility in Oman and a ship north-west of Muscat, as the Iranian military broadcast radio warnings to ships intending to cross the strait of Hormuz.

[A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack in Seef, Manama, Bahrain.]

A building damaged by an Iranian drone attack in Seef, Manama, Bahrain. Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

[After Iran shut the strait of Hormuz, an oil tanker that ignored the closure appears to be on fire.]

A blaze on an oil tanker that appeared to have ignored the closure of the strait. Photograph: Noor Pictures/Shutterstock

People in Damascus, south Lebanon and Amman were shaken by explosions as Israel intercepted incoming Iranian missiles in the sky.

Strikes on Gulf countries and the wider region left travellers stranded as major hubs in Dubai and Qatar were closed. Flights around and through the region were cancelled or delayed and it was unclear when the airspace above Gulf countries would reopen.

[Passengers stranded by the closure of Dubai Iinternational airport await for assistance in the airport car park]

Passengers stranded by the closure of Dubai international airport. Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

The speed at which the conflict turned regional was dizzying. The geographical scope of the conflict exceeded that of the 12-day war within just a few hours.

Satellite imagery from Vantor showed Iranian vessels burning at the Konarak naval base on Saturday.

[A satellite image of a cloud of black smoke rising from a port]

A burning vessel at the Konarak naval base. Photograph: Vantor/MediaValet

Thousands of people gathered in Tehran’s Enghalab Square to mourn the supreme leader on Sunday afternoon, waving flags and chanting slogans.

Women wailed and beat their chests in grief and men holding aloft images of Khamenei called for retaliation against the US and Israel for the assassination.

[People in Tehran mourn the death of Ali Khamenei.]

People in Tehran mourn the death of Ali Khamenei. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

[Thousands of people gather in Enghelab Square.]

Thousands of people gather in Enghelab Square. Photograph: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Protests broke out across the Middle East and the wider region as Shia Muslims gathered to express their shock and anger over Khamenei’s killing. As an ayatollah, he was a major religious figure for members of the Shia faith.

In Pakistan, hundreds of pro-Iran protesters attempted to storm the US consulate in Karachi, prompting security forces to disperse the crowd. At least nine people were killed and several others injured.

[Riot police fire teargas shells to disperse a protest in Karachi.]

Riot police fire teargas shells to disperse a protest in Karachi. Photograph: Ali Raza/AP

Protests also broke out in Baghdad’s green zone, as the Iraqi Shia leaders Ali Sistani and Moqtada al-Sadr expressed their condolences for Khamenei’s death. Hezbollah called for a rally in Beirut on Sunday afternoon.

[Protesters attempt to approach the US embassy in Baghdad]

Protesters attempt to approach the US embassy in Baghdad. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

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