Missile Fury Shakes Region As Iran Strikes Back

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Dubai- Iran vowed revenge Sunday after the assassination of its supreme leader and traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by a surprise US and Israeli air raids a day earlier.

Blasts in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area where there are government buildings. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed since the start of the US and Israeli strikes that also targetted the office of the Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

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Earlier, Iran fired barrage of missiles at an ever-widening list of targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation while Israel vowed“non-stop” strikes against Iran's leaders and military.

In Israel, loud explosions caused by missile impacts or interceptions could be heard in Tel Aviv. Israel's rescue services said eight people were killed and 28 wounded in a strike that hit a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 10. The figure could not be verified as Israel has imposed censorship on war reporting.

The US military said three service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded since the operations began. They are the first known American casualties from the fighting.

The strikes and counterattacks underscored how the killing of Ayatrollah Khamenei, and US President Donald Trump's calls for the overthrow of the decades-old Islamic Republic, carried the potential for a prolonged conflict that could envelop the Middle East.

It's the second time in eight months that the US and Israel have teamed up to launch attack on Iran, and a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an“America First” platform and vowed to keep out of“forever wars.”

In the 12-day war in June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran's air defences, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of 86 yerar old leader, creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.

Iran vows revenge

“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday.“We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

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Trump warned that any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.

“THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT,” Trump fired back in a social media post.“IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

In a sign of how the attack could stoke regional unrest, hundreds of people stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Sunday. Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and at least nine people were killed in the clashes, authorities said.

Iran retaliates with missiles and drone attacks

As US and Israeli strikes have pounded Iran, the Islamic Republic has retaliated with missiles and drone attacks on Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting US forces.

The air war could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. Around 20 per cent of the world's traded oil passes through the vital waterway, and oil prices are already set for swings.

Read Also US-Israel Kill Khamenei; Region Erupts as Missiles Rain Iran Announces Temporary Leadership Council

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that Israel will have“a non-stop air train” of strikes against military and leadership targets in Iran.

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defense fire thudded over Dubai. The UAEs' commercial capital has long drawn business and expatriates by billing itself as a safe haven in a volatile region.

Shrapnel from Iranian attacks on Abu Dhabi killed two people, state media said, and debris from aerial interceptions caused fires at the city's main port and on the facade of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.

Attacks also extended into Oman - Iran's longtime interlocutor with the West that hadn't been drawn into the fray previously.

Saudi Arabia condemned Iran's attacks on its capital, Riyadh, and eastern region, saying it had successfully intercepted them.

Jordan said it“dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles. Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar also said they had intercepted projectiles Sunday morning.

Iran's foreign minister blamed such strikes on the U.S. and Israel for starting the war. He said Iran's military units are“somehow isolated” and acting on orders given in advance. He said he had spoken to his counterparts in the Gulf countries and urged them to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end the war.

In southern Iran, at least 148 school; children were killed when a girls' school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV.

IRNA said at least 15 people were killed in the southwest, quoting the governor of the Lamerd region, Ali Alizadeh, as saying a sports hall, two residential areas and a hall near a school were hit.

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