Iran unleashes retaliation

THE WAR SPREAD across the region on Sunday, a day after the US and Israel started attacks on the Islamic Republic, drawing a swift and widespread response.

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Iranian missiles struck buildings in Tel Aviv, while defences in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait intercepted incoming projectiles.

Dubai’s main airport, the world’s busiest aviation hub, was hit, and nearly all civilian air traffic is closed across the Gulf. Dubai landmarks including the luxury Palm Jumeirah island and Burj Al Arab hotel incurred damage, as did skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi. Both Israel and the UAE announced fatalities from the waves of attacks from Iran. Iranian television reported on Saturday that more than 200 people have been killed in the strikes on the Islamic Republic.

Israel estimates its strikes destroyed hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and knocked out about half of the nation's launchers for the weapons, according to an Israeli military official. The assassination of Khamenei, the ruler who dominated the Islamic Republic for more than three decades, took the US-Israeli campaign to quash Iran's regional influence to a new level. Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed “revenge and retribution” for the killing, calling it a “legitimate right,” and other officials vowed to intensify the country’s military response on Sunday.