DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States and Israel carried out multiple airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Wednesday, the fifth day of the war with Iran, as Tehran responded with missile barrages and drone attacks across the region. Israel said it targeted Iranian leaders and security forces while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned it was ready for the “complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.”
Dawn blasts woke Tehran residents and state television showed destroyed buildings in the city center. The seminary city of Qom and several other cities were also struck. With fighter jets overhead, many in Tehran were uncertain whether to flee or stay; one shopkeeper, speaking on condition of anonymity, said leaving would make it impossible to earn a living.
The Israeli military said an F-35 shot down a piloted Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter over Tehran. Israeli air defenses were activated to intercept Iranian missiles fired at targets around Israel, and explosions were reported near Jerusalem. The tempo of strikes in Tehran was so intense Iranian authorities postponed the mourning ceremony for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, state television said.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said NATO intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkish airspace. Off Sri Lanka’s coast, an Iranian naval frigate identified by Sri Lankan authorities as the IRIS Dena sank; 32 people were rescued but others died. The ship is armed with guns, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and can carry a helicopter. The U.S. military said it had destroyed 17 Iranian vessels already and said its goal was to sink “the entire navy.”
With Iran’s control over tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz, Brent crude rose above $84 a barrel, more than 15% higher since the conflict began and at its highest level since July 2024. Global markets fell on fears that higher oil prices will harm the world economy and corporate profits. Iran has also struck regional infrastructure: Saudi Arabia said its Ras Tanura refinery, one of the world’s largest, was again targeted though the kingdom reported no damage and no disruption to supplies.
The American Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks earlier in the week. The U.S. State Department authorized non-emergency government personnel to evacuate Saudi Arabia. U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Iran has launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 drones so far. In a prerecorded message Cooper said U.S. and allied forces had struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions, severely degrading Iran’s air defenses and destroying hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
Five days into a war that U.S. President Donald Trump said could last a month or longer, over 1,000 people have been killed in Iran, including some individuals Trump said he had considered possible future leaders of the country. The U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,045 people, Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday, representing the number of bodies identified and prepared for burial. Eleven people in Israel have died since the conflict began. Kuwait revised earlier reports to say an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling shrapnel as Kuwaiti forces intercepted “hostile aerial targets”; three people died in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain. Six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers were killed Sunday in Kuwait.
Air sirens sounded across Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Qatar’s defense ministry said Iran launched two ballistic missiles toward the country; one struck Al-Udeid Air Base without causing casualties. Lebanon suffered multiple strikes and Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah after the Iran-backed group fired on Israel; Lebanon’s health ministry reported more than 50 dead and over 300 wounded. Iranian-linked militants in Iraq have also been launching attacks.
Israel’s military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said launches from Iran had declined as Iranian capabilities were degraded. He said Israeli strikes hit a missile storage and production site in Isfahan and struck a building in Qom where clerics were expected to meet about choosing a new supreme leader, though semi-official Iranian news agencies later reported no meeting at the time.
While the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Khamenei and Trump publicly urged Iranians to overthrow their government, senior U.S. officials later said regime change was not the objective. Trump on Tuesday suggested someone from within the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the campaign ends. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, posted that whoever is chosen as Iran’s next supreme leader “will be a target for elimination.” The Israeli military said it struck buildings in Tehran tied to the Basij, the volunteer force of the Revolutionary Guard that helped crush domestic protests earlier this year.
Iranian judiciary chief Gholam Hosseini Mohseni Ejehei warned on state television that anyone supporting the U.S.-Israeli campaign is “on the enemy’s side and must be dealt with on revolutionary, Islamic principles and in accordance with the time of war.” Iran’s leaders are racing to choose a replacement for Khamenei, who governed for 37 years; it is only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader is being selected. One candidate mentioned publicly is Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the late ayatollah.
The spiraling conflict has raised hard questions about its duration and endgame. The Trump administration has outlined objectives including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, dismantling its navy, preventing a nuclear weapon and stopping support for armed allies across the region, but how and when those aims might be achieved or the war concluded remains unclear.
Reporting contributions came from Bangkok, Cairo, Athens, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Taipei and Miami.
