DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. and Israel pounded targets across Iran, dropping massive bombs on the country's ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Blasts rattled windows across the country and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above Tehran. More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said.
Iran vowed revenge, firing missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states in a counteroffensive that the U.S. military said resulted in the deaths of three service members — the first known American casualties from the conflict.
Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the U.S. attacks on Iran, the military announced Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that President Donald Trump said could likely lead to more losses in the coming weeks.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred as the Islamic Republic retaliates over the joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel. The post said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday afternoon. “And 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.”
In the roughly six-minute video, Trump called those killed “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.” He said the U.S. will avenge their deaths.
Trump earlier told the Daily Mail in a phone interview Sunday that the U.S. troops who were killed were “great people.”
“You know, we expect that to happen, unfortunately,” Trump told the newspaper. “Could happen continuous — it could happen again.”
Israeli rescue services said strikes had hit several locations, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11. Eleven people were still missing after the strike, police said.
But the attacks on Iran showed no signs of relenting as the U.S. and Israel took aim at key military, political and intelligence targets in what appeared to be a widening war that carried the potential for a prolonged conflict that could envelop the Middle East and destabilize it. The strikes represented a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and pledged to keep out of “forever wars.”
Trump vows vengeance for US deaths
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a video posted to social media that the U.S. would “avenge” the deaths of the service members and that “there will likely be more” killed before the conflict ends.
Israel, which had pledged “nonstop” strikes, said it was increasing its attacks, with 100 fighter jets simultaneously striking targets in Tehran, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters at a briefing. The targets included buildings belonging to Iran’s air force, its missile command and its internal security force, which violently quashed anti-government protests in January.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Trump said on social media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”
Europe has mostly stayed out of the war and pressed for diplomacy, but in an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations, Britain, France and Germany said Sunday they were ready to work with the U.S. to help stop Iran’s attacks.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain would allow the United States to use its bases to strike Iranian missile sites. The U.K. maintains nearby bases on Cyprus and Chagos Islands, a British archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
The weekend attacks were the second time in eight months that the U.S. and Israel had combined against Iran. In the 12-day war last June, Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. But the killing of Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of regional instability.