DUBAI: Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the US Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded Monday with statements of defiance and increasing casualties.
In the chaos, the US military said that Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission during the attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the US-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country have come under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel and 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities there.
Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi has delivered some of his first public remarks since he was made a member of Iran's temporary leadership council.
In remarks aired on state television, Arafi said he hoped that a new supreme leader would be “quickly” appointed. The 88-seat Assembly of Experts, a group of mostly hard-line clerics, will choose former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's replacement. But no clear successor is in place.
Arafi is serving on a temporary leadership council that includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iran's hard-line judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. Arafi added that state institutions were continuing to function “under these extremely difficult circumstances.”
Iran has targeted a power plant in Qatar, the country's defence ministry said. There were no casualties.
The ministry reported that Iran launched two drone attacks, one targeting a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed, in southern Qatar, and another targeting an energy facility operated by Qatar Energy in the industrial city of Ras Laffan.
Air defences in the United Arab Emirates have intercepted drones over Abu Dhabi, officials said.
Debris fell on a warehouse and a commercial facility in the city's industrial areas. There was minor damage but no injuries, according to a statement posted on X by the Abu Dhabi Media Office.
The Jordanian Civil Aviation Authority says airspace will be closed between 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) and 7 am (0400 GMT) daily until further notice. It called the closure “partial and temporary.”
Displaced families from southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs sought refuge in schools in the capital, after Israel launched its deadliest barrage of airstrikes in more than a year. It came hours after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border.
At a public school hastily converted into a temporary shelter, families arrived carrying mattresses, plastic bags and bundles of clothing. People sat on sidewalks beside their belongings, some smoking quietly as they waited for space to open inside.
Hussein Abu Ali, who fled with his wife and children, described the moment the strikes hit. “My son began shaking and crying. ... Where are you supposed to go? I stepped outside, then back in because I was afraid of shooting in the air. I gathered my children and went down to the street.”
Israeli attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded 149, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia remains “in constant contact with the Iranian leadership” while also keeping up communication with the Persian Gulf states.
Peskov said Moscow was deeply disappointed to see the US and Israel attack Iran despite the progress made in the US-Iranian talks.
He said Russia will continue to take part in the US-mediated talks on Ukraine and praised Washington's efforts to help negotiate an end to the conflict.