Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the US had sunk an Iranian warship in international waters as Israel intensified its bombing of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power. Tehran has vowed to completely destroy the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure – suggesting the war is nowhere near over and could expand further.
The pace of attacks on Iran was so intense that state television announced that a mourning ceremony for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed. The funeral of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was attended by millions in 1989.
In addition to hitting Tehran on the fifth day of the conflict, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired at Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel. As the conflict escalated, Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Iran before it entered Turkish airspace.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens more in Lebanon, while disrupting the world’s oil and gas supplies, disrupting international shipping and stranding millions of travelers in the Middle East.
Both sides are not giving in to their attacks
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from a US submarine sank an Iranian warship. He did not name the ship, but earlier an Iranian warship sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka.
At a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth said Tuesday night’s attack on an Iranian warship was the first attack on an enemy since World War II.
“A US submarine sank an Iranian warship that it thought was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
Sri Lankan officials said 32 people were rescued from the Iranian ship and others died.
Israel said the all-volunteer force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard had struck buildings linked to Iran’s Basij in a bloody crackdown on protesters in January that killed thousands and arrested tens of thousands.
The Israeli military said it struck buildings linked to Iran’s internal security command, which has previously cracked down on demonstrations. It also hit towns near Beirut.
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Israel and the US have said they want to see the Iranian public overthrow the country’s theocracy, and strikes against protest forces could be part of that effort.
Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in the center of the capital, Tehran, as visitors said the attacks damaged their homes. The strikes reportedly targeted a building associated with the clerical panel to elect Iran’s next supreme leader, the Holy Shia Seminary in the city of Qom. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.
State TV has begun calling the conflict the “Ramadan War,” a reference to the ongoing holy Muslim fasting month. But that term suggested leaders were trying to prepare the public for a protracted conflict.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, echoed that sentiment: “We’ve only just begun.”
US forces damaged Iran’s air defenses and took out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones, Cooper said. Israeli military spokesman Brig. General Effie Defrin said such damage has led to a reduction in launches from Iran.
Still, explosions echoed in the sky over Jerusalem on Wednesday, and Israel’s military said Iran fired missiles toward the country, while Hezbollah sent rockets.
Iran has also launched strikes around the region, and air sirens blared Wednesday morning across Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
At least 1,045 people have died in Iran, the country’s Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation said Wednesday. Eleven people died in Israel. More than 50 people have died in Lebanon, according to the health ministry. Six US soldiers were killed.
Those in Tehran are not sure what to do
A Tehran resident who runs a clothing store said he did not know how to protect himself from the bombing.
“It is very difficult to decide what to do. If I leave the city, how can I make money and survive?” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Power supply in crosshairs
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has issued its most severe threat yet.
“The United States’ continued mischief and deception in the region will come at the cost of the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure,” it said in a statement carried on Iranian state television.
With Iranian attacks disrupting tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, Brent crude prices hit US$84 a barrel, up more than 15 percent since the start of the conflict and their highest price since July 2024.
Global stock markets were hammered on worries that a rise in oil prices could cripple the world economy and squeeze corporate profits.
Iran’s clerics are electing a new supreme leader
Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years and was killed on the first day of the attack.
This is the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new Supreme Leader is being elected.
Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists seeking diplomatic engagement. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has long been considered a figurehead – he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
In a sign that Iran’s leadership will seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the head of the judiciary warned on Wednesday that “those who cooperate with the enemy in any way are considered enemies.”
Israel’s defense minister, meanwhile, has threatened whoever Iran chooses as the country’s next supreme leader.
“Every leader appointed by the Iranian terrorist regime to pursue and advance a plan to destroy Israel, threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and subdue the Iranian people is targeted for elimination,” Israel Katz wrote in X.
It is not clear how Washington will react if a new leader is chosen in Khamenei. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that “the worst case scenario is to do this, and then someone as bad as the previous guy takes over.”
(tags to translate)Iran
