What to know about the latest U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran

People watches from rooftop as a plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The war in the Middle East expanded on several fronts Monday as attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias struck Israel and Arab states as well as U.S. military targets.

The U.S. military said Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter aircraft during a combat mission, though all six pilots ejected safely. Separately, six other U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict.

Israel and the United States continued to strike Iran while Israeli forces responded to attacks from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group by hitting targets in southern Lebanon, killing 52 people.

The war began Saturday with the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike. Reaction around the globe ranged from jubilation to condemnation, while the conflict has caused canceled flights, deadly protests, shipping delays and soaring oil prices.

Attacks across Iran kill hundreds, shake economy

The Iranian Red Crescent Society on Monday said that attacks on scores of Iranian cities have killed at least 555 people in the Islamic Republic. Strikes in Tehran apparently took Iran's state television off the air.

The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran stoked fears of a wider war and damage to the world economy. Meanwhile, Iran has expanded its attacks on oil infrastructure, the lifeblood of the region's economy.

Trump lays out his objectives

President Donald Trump said the U.S. objectives were to destroy Iran’s naval and missile capabilities and stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He expects the operation to take 4 to 5 weeks, but said it could take “far longer.”

”This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said Monday.

Six U.S. service members have been killed, including three killed in the Saturday attack on Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said regime change is not the goal.

“We would love for there to be an Iran that’s not governed by radical Shia clerics,” Rubio said Monday. “That’s not the objective.”

Iran to name new supreme leader

In the wake of Khamenei’s death, Iran’s provisional governing council is expected to name a new supreme leader. Even before the weekend's deadly strikes, Iran's theocracy had struggled with growing dissent over the economy. Activists say Iran's crackdown on protesters killed thousands.

One of the first strikes Saturday hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989. Israel said that it also killed dozens of other top Iranian military officials.

Iran strikes Israel and US bases in retaliation

Iran has launched retaliatory missiles and drones targeting Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting U.S. forces.

Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Shipping companies suspended their vessels’ traffic through the Suez Canal, adding to fears the strikes could rattle global markets.

Elsewhere, fire and smoke poured out of the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait after an Iranian attack.

Bahrain, the island kingdom that is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, said it has intercepted dozens of missiles and attack drones.

In Israel, 11 people have been killed, including nine in a strike on a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh.

In Iraq, an Iraqi Shiite militia claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in Baghdad.

And at least 22 people were killed in clashes with police in northern Pakistan and in the southern port city of Karachi after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate there, authorities said.

Travelers across the region stranded

Disrupted air travel in the region stranded or diverted hundreds of thousands of travelers after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.

They include athletes heading to the Winter Paralympics in Italy, and former U.S. Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev, one of what the ATP Tour calls “a small number of players and team members” it is trying to help leave Dubai.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the death toll in Israel is 11, not 20.

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Klug reported from Tokyo, Charlton from Paris. Brian Melley in London; Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Amir Radjy in Cairo, Matthew Lee in Washington and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Foster Klug And Angela Charlton, The Associated Press