More strikes aimed at Iran after US, Israeli assault kills supreme leader

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 1 - Israel said it had launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday, as Iranians faced uncertainty after the killing of their supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli attacks that threatened to destabilize the wider Middle East. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 1 - Israel said it had launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday, as Iranians faced uncertainty after the killing of their supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli attacks that threatened to destabilize the wider Middle East.

Hours after the United States and Israel said that an air strike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as part of the most ambitious series of attacks on Iran in decades, Iranian state media confirmed the 86-year-old leader's death on Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the air strikes on Iranian targets were aimed at ending a decades-long threat from Iran and ensuring it could not develop a nuclear weapon as he sought to justify a risky gambit that seemed to go against his professed opposition to American involvement in complex overseas conflicts.

Israel's military said its strikes on Sunday morning targeted Iran’s ballistic missile and air defense systems. Iranian state media said an explosion was heard in Tehran on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones in response to the initial attacks, targeting U.S. troops in the region and cities in Israel and Arab countries allied with Washington and leading to widespread flight cancellations in the region.

The Pentagon said there were no U.S. deaths or injuries, but the strikes raised concerns of new risks for Americans. A senior U.S. intelligence official told Reuters that while the largest threat stemming from the attack was against U.S. military personnel in the Middle East, cyber attacks could also target critical U.S. infrastructure.