Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, state media report
US President Donald Trump called it greatest chance for Iranians to ‘take back their country’
Israel and US launched massive strikes on Iran
Iran retaliates with hits reported in Israel and Gulf states
In Iran, attacks trigger fear and panic as people flee cities
Iranian state media confirmed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the airstrikes, along with several other senior figures in the regime.
Israel said it launched another wave of strikes on Iran on Sunday.
Iranians grappled with uncertainty and Trump warned that the country will face severe consequences if it retaliates further.
Iran’s top security official said a temporary leadership council will be set up on Sunday, state media reported.
Several loud blasts were heard for a second day on Sunday in the area of regional business hub Dubai and over Qatar’s capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states.
Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel early on Sunday, with a series of explosions heard in Tel Aviv.
The conflict has shut several major airports in the region, including Dubai, the world’s busiest international travel hub, and Tehran said it has closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow conduit for about a fifth of global oil consumption, raising expectations of a sharp jump in oil prices
War causes worst travel disruptions in years
Thousands of flights have been affected across the Middle East and beyond since the U.S. and Israeli strikes, according to data on FlightAware, a flight tracking platform.
Key transit airports including Dubai – the world’s busiest international hub – and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remained closed.
Dubai International Airport sustained damage during Iran’s retaliatory attacks, while airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit.
UAE and neighbouring Qatar sit at the crossroads of east-west air travel, funnelling long-haul traffic between Europe and Asia through tightly scheduled networks of connecting flights.
With those hubs idle, aircraft and crews remained stranded out of position, disrupting airline schedules worldwide.
“It’s the sheer volume of people and the complexity,” said UK-based aviation analyst John Strickland.
“It is not only customers, it is the crews and aircraft all over place.”
Waves of blasts in Dubai, Doha for a second day
Loud blasts were heard in Dubai and the Qatari capital Doha for the second day on Sunday, witnesses said, as Iran’s retaliatory strikes widened.
Two people were injured in Dubai – the Middle East’s biggest tourism and trade hub – after shrapnel from drones fell over two houses after the drones were intercepted, a Dubai Media office statement said.
Dubai’s international airport, its landmark Burj Al Arab hotel and the posh man-made Palm Jumeirah Island all suffered damage.
At Dubai’s Jebel Ali port area, one of the berths caught fire earlier on Sunday because of debris from an aerial interception of a missile.
Iran had said it would target U.S. bases in the region, but it has hit a range of other targets across Gulf cities.
