The war in the Middle East continued to escalate today amid ongoing US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the Associated Press reported. Tehran and its allies responded to the attacks with strikes on Israel, neighboring Gulf countries and targets critical to oil and natural gas production, BTA writes.
The intensity of the attacks, the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the apparent lack of a plan to exit the conflict have created the conditions for a prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences.
Considered safe havens in the Middle East such as Dubai have come under attack, hundreds of thousands of airline passengers have been stranded around the world, oil prices have risen sharply and US allies have promised to help stop Iranian missiles and drones.
Iran has long threatened that if attacked, it will drag the region into all-out war and target Israel, Gulf Arab states and the flow of crude oil to global energy markets.
The chaos of the conflict has become apparent, after the US military said Kuwait "mistakenly shot down" three US F-15 fighter jets during an Iranian attack with aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones. US Central Command said the six pilots ejected successfully and were in stable condition.
Qatar, meanwhile, said its air force had shot down two Iranian Su-24 bombers.
Israel and the US have bombed missile sites in the Islamic Republic and targeted its navy, saying they destroyed its headquarters and many warships.
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, has rejected the possibility of talks with Washington. "We will not negotiate with the US," he wrote in Ex.
The death toll on all sides has risen. The Iranian Red Crescent said at least 555 people were killed in the US-Israeli operation.
Eleven people were killed in Israel, where several sites were hit by Iranian missiles. The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah also attacked Israel, which responded with strikes in Lebanon, killing more than twenty people.
Four US service members were also killed, as were three people in the United Arab Emirates and one person each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Global markets were already reeling from the conflict when Qatar Energy announced it would halt production of liquefied natural gas. In response, gas prices in Europe jumped by 40%.
The Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia was attacked by drones and also stopped working.
A drone also targeted an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, killing a sailor, and debris from the drones fell on the territory of an oil refinery in Kuwait.
Several ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil passes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US was not engaged in state-building and that it had a clear mission. "This is not Iraq." "It's not endless," he said.
However, Hegseth declined to elaborate on the ultimate goal of the operation, how long it might last or what its eventual success would look like, saying it would put U.S. forces at a disadvantage.
It's not entirely clear what the U.S. goals are, the AP notes. In announcing the initial strikes, Trump cited the threat posed by Iran's nuclear and missile programs. But he also mentioned a variety of other U.S. demands and called on the Iranians to "take control." There is no sign of such an uprising yet.
Earlier this morning, Cyprus said a drone had caused "limited damage" in a strike on a British air base there.
The streets of Tehran were largely deserted and witnesses said the Basij paramilitary force have set up checkpoints in the city.
“We don't know whether to rejoice at the elimination of the criminals who oppress us or to remain silent in view of the US and Israel's war against the country and its interests and the horror that is unfolding,“ said a student from the city of Babol, who requested anonymity.