DUBAI — On the fifth day of the war with Iran, U.S. and Israeli forces carried out multiple airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities as Tehran answered with missile barrages and drone attacks across the region. Israel said its strikes targeted Iranian leaders and security forces, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned it stood ready to destroy the region’s military and economic infrastructure.
Dawn explosions rattled Tehran, and state television showed damaged buildings in the city center. The seminary city of Qom and several other population centers were also hit. With fighter jets overhead many residents faced the dilemma of fleeing or staying; one shopkeeper, speaking anonymously, said leaving would mean losing his livelihood.
The Israeli military said an F-35 shot down a piloted Iranian Air Force YAK-130 over Tehran. Israeli air defenses were activated to intercept Iranian missiles fired toward Israel, and explosions were reported near Jerusalem. The tempo of strikes in Tehran was so intense that authorities postponed the mourning ceremony for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, state television reported.
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 while others died. The vessel was equipped with guns, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and could carry a helicopter. The U.S. military said it had destroyed 17 Iranian vessels and stated its objective was to sink “the entire navy.”
Energy markets reacted to Iran’s de facto control of tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz: Brent crude topped $84 a barrel, more than 15% higher since the conflict began and at its highest level since July 2024. Global markets fell amid concern that rising oil prices would hurt the world economy and corporate profits. Tehran also targeted regional infrastructure: Saudi officials said the Ras Tanura refinery, one of the world’s largest, was again targeted but reported no damage and no disruption to supplies.
Earlier in the week the American Embassy in Riyadh and the U.S. Consulate in the United Arab Emirates were struck by drones. The U.S. State Department authorized non-emergency government personnel to evacuate Saudi Arabia. U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Iran had launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and about 2,000 drones so far. In a prerecorded message he said U.S. and allied forces had struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions, degrading Iran’s air defenses and destroying hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
Five days into the war President Donald Trump warned it could last a month or longer. Iranian authorities reported that over 1,000 people have been killed in Iran; Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said U.S.-Israeli strikes had killed at least 1,045 people, 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-raid 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; 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.
Israeli 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 that time.
The initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei prompted calls from President Trump urging Iranians to rise against their government; senior U.S. officials later clarified that regime change was not a stated objective. Trump suggested someone from within the Iranian system might be a suitable choice to lead after the campaign ends. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, posted that whoever becomes 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 suppress domestic protests earlier this year.
Iranian judiciary chief Gholam Hosseini Mohseni Ejehei warned on state television that anyone supporting the U.S.-Israeli campaign was on the enemy’s side and must be dealt with according to revolutionary and wartime principles. Iran’s political leadership moved quickly to choose a replacement for Khamenei, who had led the country for 37 years; the selection is only the second time a new supreme leader has been chosen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. One publicly mentioned candidate is Mojtaba Khamenei, the ayatollah’s son.
The escalating conflict has raised urgent questions about its duration and endgame. The Trump administration has outlined aims including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, dismantling portions of its navy, preventing a nuclear weapon and curbing support for armed allies across the region, but how and when those goals might be achieved — and what would bring the war to an end — remained unclear.
Reporting contributions to this coverage came from Bangkok, Cairo, Athens, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Taipei and Miami.
