DUBAI\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The war in the Middle East spiraled further Monday as Israel and the U.S. pounded Iran. Tehran and its allies hit back against Israel, neighboring Gulf states, and targets critical to the world\u2019s production of oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n
The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, and the lack of any apparent exit plan set the stage for a prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences. Safe havens in the Mideast<\/a> like Dubai have seen incoming fire; hundreds of thousands of airline passengers are stranded around the globe<\/a>; oil prices shot up<\/a>; and U.S. allies pledged to help<\/a> stop Iranian missiles and drones.<\/p>\n With no sign of the conflict abating anytime soon, Trump said Monday that the operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared \u201cto go far longer than that.\u201d<\/p>\n He said U.S. forces were determined to destroy Iran\u2019s missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensure that Iran cannot continue to arm and fund allied groups like Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah, which fired missiles at Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was our last, best chance to strike — what we\u2019re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Iran has long threatened, if attacked, to drag the region into total war, including targeting Israel, the Gulf Arab states and the flow of crude oil crucial for global energy markets. All of these came under attack on Monday.<\/p>\n The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had \u201cmistakenly shot down\u201d three American F-15E Strike Eagles while Iran was attacking with aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones. U.S. Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition.<\/p>\n The Gulf state of Qatar meanwhile said its air force had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.<\/p>\n Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships. As several airstrikes hit Iran\u2019s capital of Tehran, the top security official Ali Larijani vowed on X: \u201cWe will not negotiate with the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The death toll grew on all sides. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the U.S.-Israeli operation has killed at least 555 people. In Israel, where several locations were hit by Iranian missiles, 11 people were killed. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group also targeted Israel, which responded with strikes on Lebanon, killing more than two dozen people. Meanwhile, four American troops have been killed, and three people were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.<\/p>\n In Kuwait City, fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy compound, shortly after the U.S. issued a warning to Americans to take cover and stay away from the complex. There were no immediate reports on damage or casualties.<\/p>\n Iran expands attacks to regional oil infrastructure<\/p>\n With world markets already rattled by the fighting<\/a>, QatarEnergy said it would stop its production of liquefied natural gas, taking one of the world\u2019s top suppliers off the market. It offered no timeline for restoring its production. European natural gas prices surged by 40% in response.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack from drones, with defenses downing the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude oil a day.<\/p>\n A drone also targeted an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, killing one mariner, the sultanate said, while debris fell on an oil refinery in Kuwait.<\/p>\n Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil trade passes<\/a> and where Iran has threatened attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe attack on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran\u2019s sights,\u201d said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. \u201cAn extended period of uncertainty lies ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n The region is also a hub for air travel<\/a>, and passengers have been stranded around the world as carriers based in the Gulf grounded flights. Long-haul carriers Etihad and Emirates restarted limited flights Monday.<\/p>\n Iran says nuclear site was targeted<\/p>\n Reza Najafi, Iran\u2019s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters that airstrikes targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the U.S. bombed in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. Israel has said that it is targeting the \u201cleadership and nuclear infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to do so while saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s government news outlet said Monday that Tehran\u2019s Golestan Palace, a UNESCO-listed heritage site, was damaged in U.S.\u2013Israeli strikes on Sunday<\/p>\n Hezbollah fires on Israel, prompting massive response<\/p>\n Hezbollah said it fired missiles on Israel early Monday in response to Khamenei\u2019s killing and \u201crepeated Israeli aggressions.\u201d It was the first time in more than a year that the militant group has claimed an attack.<\/p>\n There were no reports of injuries or damage.<\/p>\n Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people and wounding 149 others, according to Lebanon\u2019s Health Ministry. Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by loud explosions that shook buildings and shattered windows.<\/p>\n Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army chief of staff, said the military would not end its offensive against Hezbollah \u201cbefore the threat from Lebanon is eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will end this campaign with not just Iran being struck but with Hezbollah suffering a devastating blow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rescue services in Israel said several locations have been hit by Iranian missiles, including Jerusalem<\/a> and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh. In all, 11 people have been killed.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s proxies were a chief concern for American and Israeli officials before they moved ahead with strikes over the weekend.<\/p>\n The Iraqi Shiite militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. It claimed another drone attack on Sunday against a U.S. air base in Iraq\u2019s north.<\/p>\n No end in sight to the U.S.-Israeli campaign<\/p>\n The U.S. military said B-2 stealth bombers<\/a> struck Iran\u2019s 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\u2019s headquarters had been \u201clargely destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the U.S. is not engaged in a nation-building effort in Iran, and there is a clear mission. \u201cThis is not Iraq. This is not endless,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t give specifics when asked about the ultimate goals of the operation, how long it might last or what success would look like, saying doing so would disadvantage U.S. forces.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not completely clear what the U.S. objectives are. In announcing the initial strikes, Trump referred to the threat posed by Iran\u2019s nuclear and missile programs. But he also listed various grievances dating back to Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution and urged Iranians to \u201ctake over\u201d their government.<\/p>\n There have been no signs yet of any such uprising.<\/p>\n The American leader, however, has also signaled he would be open to dialogue with Iran\u2019s new leadership \u2014 which could be chosen soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n Early Monday, Cyprus said a drone \u201ccaused limited damage\u201d when it hit a British air base there.<\/p>\n Tehran\u2019s streets are deserted<\/p>\n