Mapped: Which nations have been focused in Middle East as Iran retaliates to US-Israeli strikes | EUROtoday

The Middle East has been dragged into an escalating battle after the US and Israel launched a wave of strikes, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei’s dying got here after the US and Israel initiated a wide-scale navy assault on Iran geared toward bringing down its nuclear programme and eradicating the nation’s management.

Retaliatory strikes have seen a number of nations, together with Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, hit following the assaults, as Iran has threatened its “most intense offensive operation” towards US bases.

Civilian targets within the area, together with lodges and airports, have additionally been hit.

“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before,” Trump fired again in a social media publish on Sunday. “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

The motion has prompted the closure of airspaces inside the area, with international airways cancelling flights all through the Middle East and Dubai International Airport, the most important international aviation hub, suspending all journey.

Following the Supreme Leader’s dying, the US president mentioned: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead”.

The US President referred to as the regime “a vicious group of very hard, terrible people”, including that “its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”

Which nations have been focused?

Attacks on Iran have focused a number of navy websites throughout the nation, together with the workplace of Iran’s supreme chief in Tehran, the place Khamenei was killed.

The regime responded to preliminary assaults by launching missiles and drones at Israel, which have struck civilian targets. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian mentioned Tehran eyes revenge for the Israel and US assaults as its “legitimate right and duty”.

Iran has additionally launched a number of assaults on Doha, with loud blasts heard within the Qatari capital for a second day on Sunday. Its international ministry mentioned it reserved the fitting to reply to Iran.  The US Navy’s fifth Fleet service centre in Bahrain was additionally subjected to a missile assault on Saturday, as a number of residential buildings in Manama have been additionally reported to be struck.

The Israeli navy on Monday mentioned it launched strikes on Lebanon, together with the capital Beirut, after Iran-backed Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israel. “In response to Hezbollah’s projectile fire”, Israeli forces mentioned it had “begun striking targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation across Lebanon”.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, had claimed duty for the assault, saying it fired rockets and drones “in retaliation for the pure blood of… Ayatollah Imam Sayyid Ali al-Husseini Khamenei… and in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the repeated Israeli attacks”.

Hezbollah has claimed an assault on Israel for the primary time since a November 2024 ceasefire meant to finish over a yr of combating.

The UAE, which additionally homes US navy bases, has reported a number of strikes, with one particular person useless and several other injured after an assault on Zayed International Airport.

Another 4 folks have been injured at Dubai International Airport after an “incident”; in the meantime, a hearth broke out at a luxurious resort within the metropolis after particles reportedly fell from the sky throughout an Iranian missile assault.

Reports of assaults have additionally been made in Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday morning, an oil tanker off the coast of Oman was struck, with 4 folks injured and 20 folks pressured to be evacuated. The US embassy within the capital metropolis Muscat has warned its employees and American residents to take shelter whereas the exercise is ongoing.

Global airways have cancelled flights throughout the Middle East amid the battle, with airspaces over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Bahrain and Jordan empty early as flights have been diverted round it on Saturday.

The European Union’s aviation regulator really helpful that its airways keep out of the airspace affected by the navy intervention.

The weekend assaults have been the second mixed strikes in eight months from the US and Israel towards Iran. In the 12-day warfare final June, Israeli and American strikes significantly weakened Iran’s air defences, navy management and nuclear programme.