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Dubai/Jerusalem/Washington – Israel announced on March 1 that it had launched a new wave of attacks against Iran, as Iranians grapple with uncertainty following the death of their supreme leader in a U.S. and Israeli attack.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump warned of deadly consequences if Iran retaliated.
Hours after the US and Israel announced that Khamenei had been killed in an airstrike.
The most ambitious series of attacks
For the first time in decades, Iranian state media confirmed the death of the 86-year-old leader.
In a further blow to Iran’s leadership, broadcaster Iranian Television said Abdulrahim Mousavi, the army’s chief of staff, was killed in an airstrike.
President Trump said the airstrikes on Iranian targets were aimed at ending a decades-old threat from Iran and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as he sought to justify a risky gamble that appeared to run counter to his professed opposition to U.S. involvement in complex foreign conflicts.
The Israeli military said the March 1 attack targeted Iranian ballistic missiles and air defense systems. Iranian state media said an explosion was heard in Tehran.
Trump warned on March 1 that the United States would attack Iran “with force we have never seen before” if Middle Eastern countries retaliated against Iran.
“Iran just said today that it will carry out a very tough attack. It’s the hardest attack we’ve ever had,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
He added in all caps: “But they had better not do that, because if they did, we would attack them with more force than we have ever seen!”
Two U.S. intelligence sources and a U.S. official familiar with the matter said Israel and the United States timed the attack to coincide with a meeting between Khamenei and his aides.
Iranian state media said Khamenei was working in his office when the attack occurred on the morning of February 28, adding that his daughter, grandson, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed.
Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said a temporary leadership council would be set up.
He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and destroy Iran and warned of harsh responses if “separatist groups” took action, state television reported.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on February 28 that hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured in the US and Israeli attacks. He said Iran’s retaliatory strikes were a matter of self-defense and that the enemy’s bases were legitimate military targets.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, told the council he deeply regretted the diplomatic opportunity “wasted”.
Oman was the first to be attacked on March 1, as Iran’s retaliatory attacks against Gulf states expand. The commercial port of Duqm was targeted by two drones, injuring one worker, the state news agency said.
The country’s Maritime Security Center also announced that the Palau-registered oil tanker Skylight was attacked about 5 nautical miles off the coast of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula.
On February 28, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones in response to its first attack, targeting U.S. forces in the region and cities in Israel and Arab countries allied with Washington, leading to widespread flight cancellations in the region.
Witnesses said several loud explosions were heard over regional business hub Dubai and Qatar’s capital Doha on March 1 and two days after Iran launched retaliatory strikes.
Plumes of white smoke rose above Dubai from the intercepted missile, and black smoke billowed over Jebel Ali Port, one of the busiest ports in the Middle East.
Smoke was seen rising from the Jebel Ali port after an Iranian attack on Dubai was reported on March 1.
Photo: AFP
Dubai International Airport and its landmark Burj Al Arab Hotel were damaged.
Four people were injured. Abu Dhabi Airports announced in a post on X that one Asian national was killed and seven others injured in the incident at Zayed International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The post was later deleted.
Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel in the early hours of March 1, and a series of explosions were heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s advanced air defense systems tried to thwart the latest Iranian attack.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu told Iranians to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to overthrow the clerical leader. they are The Israeli military said the attack, which killed at least seven senior military commanders, called on Iranians to rise up and overthrow the government.
Iranian leaders were under pressure from an economy battered by sanctions, demonstrators returning to the streets despite a bloody crackdown, and regional proxies severely weakened by Israeli attacks.
Experts said the death of Khamenei and other Iranian leaders would be a big blow to Iran, but it would not necessarily end Iran’s strong clerical rule or the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ control over the population.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament said that since Khamenei’s death, the government has been preparing for “all scenarios”, including future developments.
“We have prepared for such a moment and have considered all possible scenarios,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television, adding that American and Israeli leaders had “crossed a line that should never be crossed” and “will suffer the consequences.”
Iran could face more targeted attacks in the coming days. On March 1, the Revolutionary Guards vowed that Iranian forces would soon retaliate with the largest attack on U.S. military bases and Israel.
Major airports in the Middle East, including Dubai, the world’s busiest international travel hub, were shut down on February 28 after Iran’s missile retaliation caused the most severe disruption to the global aviation industry in years.
Thousands of flights have been affected across the Middle East, according to data from aviation tracking platform FlightAware.
The airport closure had ripples far beyond the Middle East. Dubai and neighboring Doha sit at the crossroads of east-west air travel, concentrating long-haul traffic between Europe and Asia through a network of tightly scheduled connecting flights. With these hubs sitting idle, aircraft and crews remained stranded in place, disrupting airline schedules around the world.
“It’s the sheer number of people and the complexity,” said John Strickland, a UK-based aviation analyst. “Not just our customers, but crews and aircraft around the world as well.”
The shipping industry has also been greatly affected, as the region is a major supplier of oil and liquefied natural gas.
Strait of Hormuz,
The narrow passage through which about a fifth of the world’s oil consumption passes has been shut down, raising fears of a sharp rise in oil prices.
OPEC+, made up of major oil producing countries, is scheduled to meet on March 1 and could consider increasing production beyond plans as several tanker owners, oil majors and trading companies have suspended energy shipments through the strait. Reuters, AFP