The war in the Middle East is expanding after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states Monday. Israel has struck back at Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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US fighter jets shot down in ‘friendly fire incident’
Kuwait’s defense ministry said several U.S. military aircraft crashed inside its borders Monday morning, but “all crews survived.”
At least one of the crashes was caught on video, appearing to show a pilot ejecting before impact.
Iranian state television claimed Iran targeted at least one of the U.S. aircraft that went down, but U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) contradicted that. In a statement, CENTCOM said, “During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.”
“Relevant authorities immediately initiated search-and-rescue operations,” Kuwait’s defense ministry spokesperson Col. Said Al-Atwan said in a statement.
CENTCOM said all six of the U.S. service members aboard the jets ejected safely and are in stable condition.
Conflict has turned deadly for the US
So far, four U.S. service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the U.S. attacks on Iran, which have been dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”
“Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty,” CENTCOM said in a social media post Sunday.
President Donald Trump said there are “likely” to be more losses in the coming weeks.
“We’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case,” Trump said on Sunday. “But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against basically civilization. They have waged war against civilization itself.”
Why strike now?
Tensions with Iran have been rising for months as negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear capabilities have gone nowhere. When asked by NBC News why he ordered the strike that killed Khamenei, Trump said it was “very simple.”
“They weren’t willing to stop their nuclear research,” Trump said, per NBC. “They weren’t willing to say they will not have a nuclear weapon. Very simple.”
There were also concerns Iran might launch its own preemptive attack on American forces, according to multiple reports. However, Trump administration officials told congressional staff in private briefings Sunday that U.S. intelligence did not suggest Iran was preparing to launch a preemptive strike, according to a report from The Associated Press.
U.S. officials familiar with the matter told the New York Times the U.S. and Israel had been working on a plan to strike Iran’s top leaders for some time now. Originally, though, they were planned for the night under the cover of darkness.
The attack timeline changed when the CIA, which had been following Khamenei for months, learned he would be at a meeting of top Iranian officials at a leadership compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.
Targeting nuclear facilities
Iran’s ambassador to the U.N.’s nuclear agency said on Monday that the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. The U.S. had already bombed that site last June during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
“After that attack, we warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons, and we sought repeatedly to make a deal,” Trump said Saturday.
He added, “But Iran refused, just as it has for decades and decades. They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore.”
Over the weekend, Trump told reporters that Iranian officials were interested in continuing nuclear talks with the U.S. But in a social media post Sunday night, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council made it clear that negotiations with the U.S. are over.
“We will not negotiate with the United States,” he wrote.
Conflict spreads beyond Iran
Israel struck dozens of targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones toward Israel Sunday night and early Monday morning. Hezbollah called it retaliation for Khamenei’s killing. Lebanon’s health ministry said those strikes killed at least 31 people and wounded 149 others.
A Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker was also struck by a bomb-carrying drone in the Gulf of Oman on Monday. Officials in Oman said one person from India aboard the vessel was killed, according to the state-run Oman News Agency.
Iran has threatened vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and is believed to have already launched multiple attacks. The Middle Eastern nation has also expanded the war into Saudi Arabia, targeting the Ras Tanura oil refinery on Monday. Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted operations there.
The country’s Energy Ministry said two drones bound for the refinery were intercepted, but debris caused “minor damage” and a “small fire.” Officials said oil supplies and petroleum products to domestic markets were not affected. The refinery has a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude oil per day.
QatarEnergy, one of the world’s top suppliers of liquified natural gas, said Monday it will stop production amid the war. It did not indicate when production would restart.
