Israel to Intensify Iran Strikes in Coming Days, Says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that the Israeli military will intensify strikes on Iran in the coming days, following a barrage of U.S. airstrikes that killed the country’s top leadership this weekend.

“We have eliminated the tyrant [Iranian Leader Ali] Khamenei and dozens of senior figures of the oppressive regime,” Netanyahu said in a post on social media, including a video of his remarks. “Our forces are now striking at the heart of Tehran with increasing intensity, set to escalate further in the coming days.”

Netanyahu added that we lost “dear people” in Tel Aviv, Israel, following Iranian retaliatory strikes, according to a translation of comments he made in the video.

Three U.S. service members have been killed and another five have been seriously wounded, in the first casualties of the unfolding U.S. operations against Iran, the U.S. military said on Sunday. Those were the first casualties suffered by the U.S. military since the Trump administration took over last year.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement on Sunday that U.S. troops suffered additional, less serious injuries as well.

“Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions—and are in the process of being returned to duty. Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” it said in the statement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of Iran’s leadership position following the death of Khamenei.

Meanwhile, Israel’s ambulance service said nine people were killed by a missile strike in the town of Beit Shemesh, the United Arab Emirates said Iranian attacks killed three people, and Kuwait reported one dead in Iranian raids.

The Israeli military said that over the past day Israeli planes had conducted strikes to open the “path to Tehran,” and the majority of aerial defense systems in western and central Iran had been dismantled.

It further stated, “Ali Khamenei was targeted in a precise, large-scale operation carried out by the Israeli Air Force, guided by accurate IDF intelligence, while he was in his central leadership compound in the heart of Tehran, where he was together with additional senior officials.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said on Sunday that it carried out the “seventh and eighth waves” of strikes in response to the U.S. and Israeli operation, state-run media said. Iranian officials also said they launched an attack on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, while CENTCOM said that the ship wasn’t hit and that Tehran’s missiles did not get anywhere near the vessel.

At the same time, Iranian missiles were fired at several other Middle Eastern states, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, prompting condemnation from those countries as well as Saudi Arabia.

President Donald Trump on Saturday warned that if Iran continues to retaliate against U.S. forces, the regime would face unprecedented military action. He did not elaborate.

“They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before!” the president said in all caps in a Truth Social post.

As the U.S. military struck the country earlier Saturday, Trump also called on protesters in Iran to assert themselves and take over following decades of theocratic regime rule.

Reuters contributed to this report.