Three US troops killed as Iran’s lethal revenge assaults intensify throughout Middle East | EUROtoday
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Three US troops have been killed as Iran ramped up its lethal retaliation marketing campaign throughout the Middle East in defiance of Donald Trump’s warning of an unprecedented escalation in power if assaults continued.
Tehran launched ballistic missiles and drones in direction of Israel and throughout the Persian Gulf on Sunday, putting US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, in addition to focusing on a US plane provider.
Israel and the US additionally unleashed recent strikes, with blasts heard throughout the capital metropolis, and former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amongst these killed.
In a social media submit on Sunday, President Trump warned the US would hit Iran “with a force that has never been seen before” if it tried to avenge the assassination of their supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed throughout Saturday’s strikes.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to accentuate its strikes on Iran, saying its forces have been “striking in the heart of Tehran” and warning “this will only increase in the coming days”.
But later, the US President mentioned Iran’s interim management had referred to as for talks, and mentioned he had agreed. He advised Atlantic journal from his Mar-a-lago residence in Florida: “So I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”
The provide of talks got here shortly after US Central Command confirmed that three service members had been killed as a part of Operation Epic Fury – the codename for the offensive in opposition to Iran – whereas 5 others have been critically wounded and a number of other others sustained minor accidents and concussions.
The deaths are the primary combat-related fatalities of US army personnel in main operations ordered by Mr Trump since he returned to the White House final yr.
In one other dramatic day:
- Mr Trump mentioned 48 leaders of Iran’s regime have been killed in Israeli strikes
- The Iranian Red Crescent Society and official state-linked media mentioned on Saturday 201 individuals had been killed and not less than 747 injured. The loss of life toll is reported to have since grown.
- At least 165 have been killed in a strike on a ladies’ main college in southern Iran, authorities mentioned
- Keir Starmer expressed “solidarity” with the leaders of a number of Middle Eastern nations “in the face of dangerous Iranian escalation”
- It was revealed that Iranian missiles and drones had landed inside “a few hundred yards” of British troops at a base in Bahrain
- Three individuals have been killed within the UAE, together with one on the Zayed International airport in Abu Dhabi, after it was focused with an Iranian projectile
- Holidaymakers in Dubai and Doha have been compelled to shelter inside their lodges because the barrage of Iranian missiles continued
Meanwhile, the Israeli army mentioned it had carried out additional airstrikes within the Iranian capital to “establish aerial superiority and pave the path to Tehran”, in addition to dismantling the vast majority of defence programs in western and central Iran.
Concern can be mounting in regards to the safety of the Strait of Hormuz, a key delivery lane for the worldwide economic system off Iran’s southern coast, the place two vessels are reported to have been struck by “unknown projectiles” on Sunday.
The UK has performed no half within the US-Israeli strikes, however defence secretary John Healey warned on Sunday that Iranian retaliation may put UK personnel and allies in danger.
British plane have been deployed on defensive operations, flying from Cyprus and Qatar and “taking down” drones and missiles “menacing” UK bases and allies, Mr Healey added. He additionally confirmed to Times Radio {that a} British “counter-drone team” in northern Iraq had shot down Iranian drones.
He mentioned “few people” would mourn the Ayatollah, however repeatedly declined to say whether or not the UK backed the US-Israeli strikes that killed him, or if the UK believed they have been authorized, when requested six occasions by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
He mentioned: “Britain played no part in the strikes on Iran. We share, however, the primary aim of all allies in the region and the US that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon.”
In Dubai, residence to greater than 240,000 British expats, the blasts from Iranian missiles continued to trigger uncertainty and worry after two lodges have been hit in a single day.
JS Anand, founder and CEO LEVA lodges, which has a flagship lodge in Dubai, advised The Independent: “It caused a lot of panic, uncertainty, and there was an emergency message that came out in the night.
“It said there was a barrage of missiles coming in, everyone came to the lobby and basement, worried about what was going to happen, so we had to take care of them. Most of them have extended their stay because there are no flights and no certainty on when the airspace is going to open up.”
Flights throughout the area proceed to be disrupted, inflicting journey chaos for hundreds of travellers unable to depart. Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained just about empty, maps by Flightradar24 confirmed on Sunday, and three main airways – Etihad, Qatar and Emirates – have grounded all flights to the area till not less than Monday.
In assaults elsewhere within the area, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health mentioned one particular person had been killed, and 20 individuals wounded in retaliatory assaults by Iran, whereas American residents in Oman have been warned to take shelter after missiles have been launched there.
Mr Trump introduced on Sunday that the US army was sinking Iran’s Navy, having destroyed 9 Iranian warships to date and “going after the rest”. While Iran’s Revolutionary Guards mentioned it had launched an assault on the US plane provider Abraham Lincoln with 4 ballistic missiles, state media reported. US Central Command mentioned the ship was not hit and that Iran’s missiles “didn’t come close”.
In Israel, 9 individuals have been killed by a missile strike within the city of Beit Shemesh, its ambulance service mentioned, after sirens sounded in a single day on Saturday.
Israeli army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani mentioned many targets inside Iran remained, together with websites of military-industrial manufacturing. “We have the capabilities and the targets to keep going on for as long as necessary,” he mentioned.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-troops-killed-iran-strikes-israel-us-b2929730.html