Israeli fighter jets streaked through the skies over the Iranian capital, Tehran. Iran fired drone strikes across the Persian Gulf. Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched rockets from Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israel to bombard the militia’s strongholds outside Beirut. U.S. warplanes continued to batter Iran. And three U.S. jets were shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses in what the U.S. military called an “apparent friendly fire incident,” with crew members brought to safety.
Three days after the United States and Israel launched a massive military attack against Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s autocratic supreme leader, there was little end in sight to the escalating fighting. President Trump told The New York Times on Sunday that the United States and Israel could keep striking Iran for “four to five weeks.”
The president has offered conflicting visions of how the war could end and who should take over in Iran after Mr. Khamenei, who ruled the country with an iron fist for over three decades. Critics say the Trump administration has no clear endgame and casualties are already mounting, including four U.S. soldiers whose deaths the Pentagon has announced since Sunday.
Here’s what to know:
Iran: The Israeli military said it was bombarding sites in Tehran and across the country, with little apparent resistance from Iran’s air defenses. More than 550 people have been killed in Iran since the beginning of the war, the Iranian Red Crescent emergency service said on Monday. Iran’s leaders remained defiant: Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a member of the interim council running the country, vowed that Iran would “taste the sweet nectar of victory.”
Persian Gulf: Massive explosions were heard in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere as Iran fired drones and missiles at Gulf States, several of which host U.S. military bases. Iranian leaders have said the attacks target U.S. assets, but they have also struck Dubai’s international airport, hotels and other civilian infrastructure. At least six people have been killed across the Gulf since Saturday, according to the authorities.
Lebanon: Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets at Israel overnight on Monday as a fragile yearlong truce between the two sides collapsed in the wake of Mr. Khamenei’s killing. Israel subsequently launched waves of airstrikes around the capital of Beirut and across Lebanon. Lebanon’s government issued a full-throated condemnation of Hezbollah’s actions, with its prime minister calling the group’s militant operations “unlawful.”
Israel: Israelis repeatedly sought shelter as Iran continued to fire volleys of ballistic missiles and drones, setting off air-raid sirens across the country. Israel’s air defenses have managed to repeal most of the attacks, though a direct hit on Sunday killed at least nine people in Beit Shemesh, south of Jerusalem.
Economic fallout: Oil and natural gas markets continued to be highly volatile as the fighting shut down shipping routes and damaged oil facilities. Naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, has shut down, according to shipping companies and Iranian media. The shipping company Maersk said it was halting some shipping through the Red Sea, hundreds of miles to the west.
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