At least 51 students killed as US-Israel strikes on Iran escalate into regional crisis

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported this information.

The massive joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran has escalated tensions across the Middle East, raising fears of a broader regional conflict.

Iranian retaliation has targeted US assets in several Gulf Arab states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where American military bases are hosted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for strikes against “all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East,” vowing that the operation “will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated.”

At least one person was reported killed in Abu Dhabi after Iranian missiles were intercepted, while Bahrain reported a missile attack on the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

The attacks have triggered widespread disruption of civil aviation. At least eight countries — Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE — closed their airspace. Several international carriers, including Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways, canceled flights to the region.

In Iran, explosions were reported in multiple cities, including Tehran, Kermanshah, Qom, Tabriz, Isfahan, Ilam, Karaj, and Lorestan province. Tehran strikes targeted University Street, Jomhouri area, and near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters.

US President Donald Trump outlined the campaign’s objectives, saying the US aims to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground” and “annihilate their navy.” He urged Iranian military personnel to surrender, promising immunity to those who comply but warning of “certain death” for those who resist. Trump acknowledged possible US casualties in the operation, which the Pentagon has dubbed “massive and ongoing.”

Regional actors are closely monitoring the conflict. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi paramilitary group, has threatened imminent attacks on US bases in retaliation. Russia called for an immediate halt to US and Israeli attacks, urging diplomatic resolution, while Saudi Arabia condemned Iranian missile strikes on Gulf states, warning of “dire consequences” for continued violations of sovereignty. The European Union urged restraint and diplomacy to prevent nuclear escalation. Pakistan condemned attacks on Iran, while Indonesia signaled readiness to facilitate US-Iran dialogue, reports UNB. 

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the military strikes, warning that the attacks “risk provoking further escalation” and increase the danger of nuclear proliferation.