TEHRAN: The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic, said they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, other American interests in the Gulf and Israel.
Iran's regionwide missile salvo could be heard in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, as well as Israel and Iraq, in the hours following the first strikes, after it had repeatedly vowed to retaliate fiercely should it be attacked. A strike that hit a school in southern Iran killed 51 students, state television reported on Saturday, citing a local official who gave an updated toll. "In this morning's Israeli missile attack on a girls' elementary school in the (Minab) county, 51 students have so far been killed and 60 students have been wounded," the county governor said. In the UAE, the defence ministry said Iranian strikes had killed one civilian, and witnesses in Dubai heard an explosion and saw missiles streak across the sky.
Smoke was rising over Tehran's Pasteur district, site of the home of Khamenei, and there was a huge security deployment in the capital. "Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack," Israel's Kan reported, citing an Israeli source.
Iranian state television said Pezeshkian was "safe and sound", while the Fars news agency said "missile impacts were reported in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts" of Tehran.
Witnesses told correspondents they had heard at least three blasts in the area. Journalists also saw long lines of people queueing at bakeries at various locations in Tehran. The attacks came after US President Donald Trump expressed frustration at Iran's stance in negotiations over its nuclear and missile programmes. Trump said Washington's goal was "eliminating imminent threats" from Iran, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was to remove an "existential threat".
"The United States' military began major combat operations in Iran," Trump said in a video message posted on his social media site while he spent the weekend at his Florida golf club. "We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We're going to annihilate their navy," Trump said, warning of possible US casualties. He offered Iranian forces including the Revolutionary Guards "immunity" should they surrender, or "certain death" if not, and told Iranians the "hour of your freedom is at hand", urging them to rise up and "take over your government".
Israel's Netanyahu echoed this call, telling Iranians that the time had come to "cast off the yoke of tyranny". The Israeli army warned Iranians in or around military infrastructure across Iran to evacuate after announcing it was conducting a "broad strike" on multiple military targets. Iran again vowed to "respond decisively to the aggressors", and the Guards announced they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as well as targets in Israel.
"The IRGC's missiles and drones have struck the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as military and security centres in the heart of the occupied territories, with severe blows," the Guards said. "I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets," a Tehran office worker said on condition of anonymity. "At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet." Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and multiple airlines cancelled flights to the Middle East. US embassies in the Gulf urged American citizens to take shelter.
Explosions were also heard over central Doha and near Al-Udeid military base, the largest US facility in the region, and a journalist saw an interceptor take out one missile in a puff of white smoke, as Qatar's defence ministry said it had "repelled a number of attacks". Kuwait and the UAE also reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles, with Abu Dhabi saying it "reserves its full right to respond" and slamming the attacks as "a dangerous escalation". A bombing that targeted an Iraqi military base housing a pro-Iran group killed at least two fighters, sources from the powerful group Kataeb Hezbollah said. "We will soon begin attacking American bases in response to their aggression," the group said. — AFP
EU urges 'maximum restraint' over Mideast conflict
BRUSSELS: The EU called on Saturday for "maximum restraint" after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, sparking retaliatory attacks.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen described the developments as "greatly concerning", as the 27-nation bloc moved to withdraw non-essential personnel from the region.
"Ensuring nuclear safety and preventing any actions that could further escalate tensions or undermine the global non-proliferation regime is of critical importance," said von der Leyen, the European Commission President. "We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law," she added in a joint statement with European Council President Antonio Costa.
The US and Israel launched a wave of strikes against targets in Iran on Saturday, triggering explosions in the capital Tehran, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been targeted. The Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. Explosions were heard in the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE — all countries that host US forces. Blasts were also reported in the skies over Jerusalem after the Israeli military said a "barrage of missiles was launched" towards the country.
"Our consular network is fully engaged in facilitating departures for EU citizens. Non-essential EU personnel are being withdrawn from the region," said the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. The EU's Aspides naval mission in the Red Sea remained "on high alert" and stood ready to help keep the maritime corridor open, Kallas said, adding she had spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and "other ministers in the region". "The latest developments across the Middle East are perilous. Iran's regime has killed thousands. Its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, along with support for terror groups, pose a serious threat to global security," she wrote on social media. — AFP
Airspace closed, flights cancelled in several countries
PARIS: Flights across the Middle East were being cancelled on Saturday as several countries slammed their airspace shut after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region. Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region, killing at least one, as witnesses reported seeing warplanes and projectiles streaking through the skies. Carriers including Air France, Air India, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian, Air Algerie and Lufthansa announced widespread cancellations.
Iran swiftly closed its airspace as the strikes began. "The airspace of the entire country is closed until further notice," announced the spokesman of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, quoted by the Tasnim news agency. Qatar Airways: suspended all flights from Doha. Russia's air transport authority Rosaviatsia: all commercial flights to both Israel and Iran cancelled "until further notice".
British Airways: not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 4, flight to Jordanian capital Amman cancelled on Saturday. Swiss International Air Lines: suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 7, a total of 14 trips. The Swiss flag carrier was "also cancelling the flights from Zurich to Dubai scheduled for today and tomorrow," it said.
The German airline group said in a statement that it and its subsidiaries were also suspending flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi until Sunday. Algerian carrier Air Algerie: suspending Saturday's flights to Amman, Dubai and Doha. Norwegian: suspending its flights to and from Dubai up until and including March 4. "We will then assess if it's possible to resume flights," Charlotte Holmbergh, the budget carrier's communications director, said. Flight tracking website FlightAware: more than 11,200 flights had been delayed globally and more than 1,000 cancelled worldwide. — AFP
UN urges all parties to 'see reason' as war begins
GENEVA: The United Nations' rights chief deplored Saturday's strikes in the Middle East and urged all parties to return to negotiations, saying attacks would only result in "death, destruction and human misery". "I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran," Volker Turk said in a statement. "As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price.
"Bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery. "To avert these terrible consequences for civilians, I call for restraint and implore all parties to see reason, to de-escalate, and for a return to the negotiating table where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier," he said. "Failing to do so risks an even wider conflict, that will inevitably lead to further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region."
On Thursday, US and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva on Tehran's nuclear programme — within sight of Turk's offices in the Swiss city. The UN high commissioner for human rights reminded all parties that the protection of civilians was paramount in armed conflict, insisting that those who violated the rules of war must be held accountable.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's chief said he was deeply troubled by the unfolding situation and worried for the civilians caught in the crossfire. "We urge leaders to choose the challenging path of dialogue over the senseless route of destruction," the UN health agency's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. "The world is watching and hoping for wisdom to prevail over weapons. Peace is the best medicine." — AFP
