US announces destruction of Iranian force's HQ, first US deaths
The United States said Sunday it had destroyed the headquarters of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard force but also announced the first US fatalities in the war to overturn the Iranian government.
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced the Guard headquarters destruction in a statement on X accompanied by video of missiles blasting from a US Navy ship, then pulverizing an urban compound.
"America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters," CENTCOM said.
As missiles continued to rain on Tehran, President Donald Trump said the war could go on for a month, telling the Daily Mail that "it's always been a four week process."
The US-Israeli campaign began Saturday with bombing that killed Iran's supreme leader. Iran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks on countries across the Middle East, with explosions reported in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Israel.
Iran is publicly defiant in the face of the US and Israeli bombardment, but Trump told The Atlantic magazine that its surviving leaders "want to talk" -- although he was vague about details.
The Pentagon reported that "three US service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded", adding several others had sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions.
"Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing," it said.
Underlining the political risks back home for Trump, the 79-year-old Republican took hours to react to the US deaths, before telling NBC News: "We expect casualties, but in the end it's going to be a great deal for the world."
- Iran strikes back -
Loud explosions shook Tehran on Sunday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced its own "large-scale" attack as it launched missiles and drones at installations around the Gulf.
An attack on the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh killed at least nine people, with others still missing, authorities said.
Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, declared: "Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before."
And Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian declared the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "declaration of war against Muslims."
He warned: "Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime."
But Israel described Khamenei's death as a "first step", and military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani boasted that the joint operation "eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli attacks on Iran "will only escalate in the days ahead."
The Israeli military announced it was mobilizing around 100,000 reservists and "raising its level of readiness on the various fronts" as part of the campaign.
- Gulf states caught in conflict -
Iran's first retaliatory strikes on Saturday hit all the Gulf states apart from Oman, which had sought to mediate US-Iran talks.
On Sunday the country's commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said.
Three ships were also attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, maritime security agencies said, after Iran had previously declared the strategic waterway was closed.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to strike the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, but the Pentagon said the "missiles launched didn't even come close".
Trump, meanwhile, said that US military strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed its navy headquarters.
Britain urged UK citizens in the Gulf region to "shelter in place", while the US mission in Jordan urged citizens to stay away from the embassy, and in Bahrain told them to avoid hotels after one was damaged in a strike.
Iran's retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.
The UAE, where three people were killed, said it was withdrawing its ambassador from Iran and closing its embassy over the attacks.
In Iran, the Red Crescent said on Saturday evening that strikes had killed 201 people and injured hundreds more.
Iran's judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.
- Question on succession -
Cheers were heard as some Iranians celebrated reports of the death of Khamenei, but after state media confirmed his killing, pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting "Death to America!"
On Sunday, Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to lead the country while a permanent successor is found for the supreme leader.
One Tehran resident in her 30s said people had "shouted for joy," even in the midst of a war.
She said Khamenei's hands were stained with blood, and recalled that Iranian security forces crushed mass protests in January.
"We all realized that there is no way, absolutely no way, to reform this regime except through foreign intervention," she added.
But one truck driver said he could not see things turning out well.
"I don't know what will happen in the future, but it's not a good future for us Iranians," he said.
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(M.Dylatov--DTZ)
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