DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran vowed revenge Sunday after the killing of its supreme leader and traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by a surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment. The U.S. military said three service members have been killed, the first known American casualties from the conflict.
Blasts in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area of government buildings. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed since the start of the U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders. Earlier, Iran fired missiles at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states in retaliation while Israel pledged “non-stop” strikes against Iran’s leaders and military.
The strikes and counterattacks underscored how the killing of Khamenei, and U.S. President Donald Trump ’s calls for the overthrow of the decades-old Islamic Republic, carried the potential for a prolonged conflict that could envelop the Middle East. It’s the second time in eight months that the U.S. and Israel have teamed up to use military force against Iran, and a startling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”
