Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched another wave of missiles at Israel and American bases in the Middle East on Sunday, in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei during Saturday’s US-Israeli assault.
The Guard said Iran’s armed forces would take a “different and harsh retaliatory step,” announcing in a statement on Telegram: “We carried out a sixth wave of missile and drone attacks on Israel and American military bases in the region.”
It said it targeted 27 American bases in the region, along with Tel Nof air base, the Israeli military’s general staff headquarters in HaKirya, and a major defense industrial complex in Tel Aviv.
“Iran’s armed forces will not allow warning sirens in the occupied territories and American bases to be silenced, and will take a different and harsh retaliatory step with successive and painful strikes,” it said.
Meanwhile, loud blasts were heard for a second straight day in Dubai, the region’s business hub, unnamed witnesses told Reuters. Smoke was also seen rising over Jebel Ali port, one of the busiest ports in the Middle East.
Iranian strikes also hit Duqm commercial port in Oman, which was targeted by two drones, Oman’s state news agency said. One drone struck mobile worker housing, injuring an expatriate worker, while debris from the other fell near a fuel-tank area.
Air-raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel, and in Tel Aviv a series of explosions was heard as interceptors tried to bring down incoming fire.
Late Saturday, Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei had been killed as part of the military operation that, under the American account, aims to topple Iran’s ruling regime, hours after US President Donald Trump first announced the news.
Iran also announced on Sunday the death of armed forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, who succeeded Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed in an Israeli strike during the 12-day war last June.
Iran’s Fars news agency also reported the death of Brig. Gen. Sardar Rezaian, head of intelligence for Iran’s internal security forces, making him the fourth senior Iranian official Tehran has announced killed, in addition to Khamenei adviser Ali Shamkhani and Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Pakpour.
CBS News reported, citing unnamed intelligence and military sources, that around 40 Iranian officials were killed in the air attack that began on Saturday, launched by Washington and Tel Aviv.
In the same context, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said a temporary leadership council would be formed to assume the supreme leader’s duties and continue the war. Iranian media reported authorities had appointed Ahmad Vahidi as the new commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard, replacing Pakpour.
Reuters also cited a source familiar with the Israeli military operation as saying the strategy had not changed after Khamenei’s death, meaning the strikes would continue.
As Iran carried out its response on Sunday, Israel said it struck Iranian targets in the heart of Tehran for the first time, and carried out a broad wave of raids that destroyed a command headquarters linked to Iran’s leadership.
The Israeli military said it had struck multiple air defense systems in western and central Iran, adding, “The air force continues its defensive and offensive operations relentlessly to remove threats to Israel and deepen the strike against the Iranian regime.”
The Israeli strikes came after Trump warned of consequences for any Iranian response, saying the United States would hit Iran with “force like never seen before” if Tehran retaliated.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said: “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”
In the same context, the death toll from the US-Israeli attack on an elementary school for girls in southern Iran rose to 148, according to Xinhua, while about 100 others were wounded, citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Meanwhile, the Throwback Iran account on X posted photos claiming the school was hit because the Revolutionary Guard failed to guide one of its missiles, not because of a US or Israeli strike.
The account said the projectile “was launched from inside Iranian territory,” adding that the school is near a military zone that includes Revolutionary Guard bases.
The United States and Israel launched their military operations against Iran after negotiations that began on Feb. 6 and ran through the end of the month, mediated by Oman, to explore chances of reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which the two allies are seeking to end and prevent Tehran from completing.
The current operations are the second wave of US-Israeli strikes against Iran in a matter of months, after Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June, in which the United States joined by carrying out air strikes on Iran that it said were meant to deter Tehran from developing its nuclear program. Iran responded by firing missiles at the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar before Trump announced the war had ended by agreement.
