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.
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. In Israel, 11 people have been killed, with 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities.
Iranian cleric Alireza Arafi, delivering his first public remarks since he was made a member of Iran's temporary leadership council, said he hoped that a new supreme leader would be “quickly” appointed to replace Ali Khamenei.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military operations in Iran are the “most precise aerial operation in history.”
Decrying Tehran's “expansionist and Islamist regime,” Hegseth referenced violence in places across Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon as proxies in more than four decades, he said, were part of “a savage, one-sided war against America.”
“Their war on Americans has become our retribution against their ayatollah and his death cult,” Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon.
Hegseth said the US is not engaged in a nation-building effort in Iran and that ongoing strikes on Iran have a clear mission and won't be the prelude to a long, sustained conflict.
“This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” he said. “This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it."
A US soldier has died during the war with Iran, the US Central Command announced on Monday, bringing the official total to four.
The soldier was wounded during the initial stage of Operation Epic Fury and died on Monday, it said.
A total of four US soldiers have been killed since Israel and the US launched strikes against Iran on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday that “sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is. Likely be more, but we'll do everything possible where that won't be the case.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday to the United Arab Emirates president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss “the unprecedented tragic events in the Middle East in the context of the American-Israeli aggression against Iran and Tehran's harsh retaliatory actions,” the Kremlin said.
Putin noted that Russia had sought to help facilitate a settlement of the situation regarding the Iranian nuclear program, but those efforts were “thwarted by an unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign UN member state, in violation of the fundamental principles of international law.”
Al Nahyan described the Iranian strikes on the Emirates as completely unjustified, noting that the country's territory wasn't used for launching attacks on Iran. Putin expressed his readiness to convey these signals to Tehran and to provide all possible assistance to stabilise the overall situation in the region, the Kremlin said.
Greece is sending two frigates and two fighter jets to Cyprus after attacks against a British base on the island.
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said one of the frigates was equipped with an anti-drone system recently tested in a European Union-led deployment in the Red Sea to protect international shipping.
”(Greece) will contribute in every possible way to the defence of the Republic of Cyprus, in order to confront the threats and unlawful actions taking place on its territory,” Dendias said.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expressed hope that a diplomatic process will resume with regard to Iran's nuclear program, highlighting the “indispensable role” that the UN nuclear watchdog could play in such a scenario.
“My hope...is that we will be back at the negotiating table sooner rather than later. It is obvious that after this military conflict ends and we all hope that this will be very, very soon we will still need to have a long, durable solution, which will provide a sense of predictability and a sense of certainty for Iran and neighboring countries,” Grossi told reporters after the special session of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna.
The IAEA chief underlined that “there is a recognition” that “there will have to be a dialogue at some point.”