What to know about the widening fallout from the bombing of Iran

by · The Seattle Times

LONDON — Fallout from an extensive U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran has spread across the Middle East in recent days, killing scores of people, damaging military bases and civilian infrastructure, and severely disrupting air travel and commercial shipping.

The United States and Israel have conducted thousands of airstrikes across Iran since Saturday. These have killed some of the country’s top officials — including its supreme leader — and hundreds of other people, including civilians.

Iran has responded by firing drones and missiles at Israel, U.S. bases in the region and U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf. Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, also traded strikes Monday, opening another front in the widening conflict.

IRAN

The U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed several military leaders and senior officials in Iran — including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader for over three decades.

Many of the strikes have damaged military infrastructure and government buildings. Israel said it had hit Iranian missile launchers, air defense systems and command centers. The U.S. military said it had targeted Iran’s ballistic missile program and the headquarters of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a powerful military force; and left at least one Iranian warship sinking.

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The assault has also left many civilians dead. The Iranian Red Crescent said on social media Monday that the American and Israeli strikes had killed 555 people across Iran.

At least 175 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran on Saturday, health officials and Iranian state media said. It was not immediately clear why the school had been hit or by whom. The school is near a naval base belonging to the Revolutionary Guard.

UNITED STATES

An Iranian strike at a base in Kuwait killed three American soldiers, who have not been identified. Five other service members were seriously wounded in the attack.

A fourth American soldier later died after being wounded during “Iran’s initial attacks,” the U.S. military said Monday. It was not immediately clear if that soldier was one of those wounded at the base in Kuwait.

Three American jets were also shot down, targeted “mistakenly” by Kuwaiti air defenses during “an apparent friendly fire incident,” the U.S. military said Monday, adding that all six crew members had ejected safely and were recovered.

ISRAEL

At least 10 people have been killed in Israel. Nine of them were killed Sunday by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, about 18 miles west of Jerusalem — Israel’s worst casualty event since the start of the conflict. A woman also died after a missile strike in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Missile barrages and air-raid sirens have sent Israelis running repeatedly to bomb shelters.

LEBANON

At least 31 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday in a statement carried by official government media.

Israel struck around Beirut, the capital, and in the country’s south, in response to Hezbollah rocket fire Monday morning. Hezbollah said it had attacked Israel to avenge Khamenei. The strikes shattered a fragile truce that had held for about a year.

GULF STATES

Countries in the Persian Gulf that are allied with the United States or that host U.S. military bases have been targeted by Iranian strikes. Iran has hit six facilities across Bahrain, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, including a key naval headquarters, air bases hosting U.S. forces and a naval recreational area. Iranian drones have also hit hotels and airports.

Most of the Iranian attacks were intercepted, the Gulf countries said, but at least six people were killed in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Emirates: In Dubai, five-star hotels caught fire, explosions shattered the windows of apartment towers, and the bustling international airport was damaged, injuring four people and shaking the city’s image as a safe haven.

Three people from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh were killed across the Emirates, an indication that foreign workers, who make up a large proportion of the population, could be among the worst affected.

Bahrain: One person was killed and two were seriously injured after debris falling from an intercepted missile started a fire on a ship, the interior ministry said. A luxury hotel and several residential buildings were hit in Manama, the capital. An Iranian drone hit a building, starting a fire, a New York Times analysis showed.

Kuwait: At least one person was killed and more than 30 were injured, Kuwaiti authorities said.

Oman: An oil tanker in Omani waters was attacked, Oman said Monday. One crew member, an Indian, was killed.

Qatar: At least 16 people were injured in the country, its interior ministry said. Qatar hosts a major U.S. air base.

IRAQ

Videos and photos verified by the Times appeared to show that Iran had struck the military base at Irbil International Airport, which hosts U.S. forces. Smoke and flames could be seen rising from the direction of the base.

SYRIA

Four people were killed in Syria after an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Sweida, according to a Syrian state news agency. The missile was most likely intended for Israel. Sweida is near Israeli-controlled territory.

PAKISTAN

At least 22 people were killed Sunday as thousands gathered across the country to denounce the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran. At least 10 of those people were killed as crowds tried to storm the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.