Iran launched a fresh wave of attacks on Israeli and American targets while warning that the United States would “bitterly regret” sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
Air raid sirens sounded across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after Israel reported incoming missile attacks. Iranian state television said the strikes also targeted American bases in the region.
In response, Israel announced it had begun a “large-scale” attack on Tehran.
The Israeli military said it had carried out strikes on multiple targets linked to the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
According to Israeli officials, around 80 locations were hit, while additional operations in Iran targeted long-range ballistic missile launch sites and other military infrastructure.
The latest escalation comes days after the conflict erupted following joint military operations by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The strikes reportedly targeted Iranian leadership, missile stockpiles and nuclear facilities.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was reported killed in the initial phase of the war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US Navy of committing an “atrocity at sea” after an American submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean.
At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the incident, according to officials. Araghchi warned on social media that Washington would “bitterly regret the precedent it has set.”
The warship had been returning from a naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy in February, where the United States had also participated using a P-8A Poseidon aircraft for maritime surveillance and anti-submarine operations.
Confirming the attack, Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that a US submarine had sunk the vessel with a torpedo.
Sri Lankan authorities reported that 32 crew members were rescued, while 87 bodies were recovered by the country’s navy. Araghchi said the ship had been carrying “almost 130” personnel.
Amid the rising tensions, senior Iranian cleric Abdollah Javadi Amoli made a rare call for violence on Iranian state television, urging retaliation against both Israel and former US President Donald Trump.
The widening conflict has already caused heavy casualties across the region. Officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed in Iran, over 70 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel since hostilities began.
The violence has also spread beyond the immediate conflict zone. A drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan bordering northern Iran and separated from the rest of the country by Armenia. Another drone fell near a school in the area, injuring two civilians, according to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
Elsewhere in the region, Qatar evacuated residents living near the US Embassy in Doha as a precaution before reporting a missile attack on the city.
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Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in a province bordering Jordan.
Maritime security has also been affected. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that a tanker appeared to have come under attack off the coast of Kuwait early Thursday after an explosion was detected.
Previous incidents since the start of the war have occurred in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
The conflict has already disrupted global energy markets and international travel across the Middle East.
Oil prices have surged, with Brent crude rising about 15 percent since the start of the hostilities as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz faces increasing threats.
