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Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Iran early Friday local time, escalating the simmering conflict between the two nations. Israel said that it was targeting locations related to Iran’s nuclear program. Shortly after the strikes began, the country’s Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency. Iran’s state-run media has reported multiple fatalities in the capital city, Tehran, including the death of the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami.
The strikes caused oil prices to jump more than 10% amid fears of a broader regional war. U.S. stock futures fell for the same reason, with Dow futures down more than 600 points. Asian stocks also fell.
Meanwhile, tragedy struck Thursday when a London-bound Air India flight crashed soon after takeoff after departing from Ahmedabad, in western India. The accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers killed all but one person on board the plane. The crash had killed several people on the ground, Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters, pushing the death toll higher.
