Israel said on Sunday it had launched another wave of attacks on Iran, as Iranians grappled with uncertainty after the killing of their veteran supreme leader.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that he had been killed in a large-scale operation carried out by its air force.
In another blow for Iran's leaders, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in the strikes, broadcaster Iran TV said. The United States will hit Iran "with a force that has never been seen before," Trump warned on Sunday, if the Middle East nation hit back after the strikes.
"Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever been hit before," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He added, "THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!"
Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, said a temporary leadership council would be set up.
He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned "secessionist groups" of a harsh response if they attempt action, state television said.
In remarks directed at Trump and his close ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said they had crossed a red line and would "pay for it".
Iran's air force conducted strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq's mostly Kurdish area of the north and Gulf countries, Tasnim news agency reported.
A source briefed on the Israeli campaign told Reuters there had been no change in military strategy after the killing of Khamenei and that strikes would continue to target Iranian officials and missile infrastructure.
SECOND DAY OF LOUD BLASTS HEARD
Several loud blasts were heard for a second day on Sunday in the regional business hub of Dubai and over Qatar's capital of Doha, witnesses said, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states. Puffs of white smoke from missile interceptions were glimpsed in the skies over Dubai, while billows of dark smoke rose over its port of Jebel Ali, one of the busiest in the Middle East.
Two people were injured after shrapnel fell from drones following an interception by air defences over two houses in Dubai.
Trump said the air strikes aimed to end a decades-long threat from Iran and ensure it could not develop a nuclear weapon. He also sought to justify a risky gambit that seemed to contradict his professed opposition to American involvement in complex overseas conflicts. "This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump and Netanyahu told Iranians to pursue a rare chance to topple their clerical leaders.
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