Iran launched a new wave of military strikes early Thursday, targeting Israeli and U.S. bases across the Middle East — significantly intensifying an already broadening conflict that has drawn in multiple regional actors and raised global security concerns. The surge in hostilities follows the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine in the Indian Ocean, an incident Tehran has condemned as an “atrocity at sea” and warned Washington it would “bitterly regret.”

According to Iranian state media and international news reports, explosions were heard in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, as air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and missiles were reported approaching allied forces’ positions. The Iranian military and state television said the strikes included attacks on bases hosting U.S. personnel, while the Israeli Defence Forces responded with what they described as a large‑scale wave of strikes against Iranian infrastructure, including areas in Lebanon under the control of Iran‑linked Hezbollah.

The immediate catalyst for this escalation was the U.S. Navy’s sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena earlier this week in international waters, an attack that killed dozens of Iranian sailors. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the action on social media as an unjustified strike against a vessel that was not engaged in combat, warning that “the U.S. will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set.”

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In a rare and incendiary clerical statement, Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli, one of the senior religious figures within Iran’s Shiite clerical establishment, called for “the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump’s blood,” using highly charged rhetoric against the United States and its former president. Such language underlines how deeply the incident has inflamed political and sectarian sentiment within Iran.

The broader conflict — now in its sixth day — began with joint U.S.–Israeli attacks targeting Iran’s political leadership, missile capabilities and nuclear infrastructure. These strikes reportedly included the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a development that has dramatically escalated hostilities. Regional governments and civilians are experiencing mounting instability as the war disrupts oil and gas markets, hinders shipping through vital waterways, and displaces thousands.

International responses have been mixed: some world leaders have urged de‑escalation and restraint, while others reiterate commitments to regional security; evacuation advisories are underway in parts of the Gulf, and neighboring countries are placing their military defenses on heightened alert. The situation remains highly fluid, with the risk of wider confrontation persisting as diplomatic channels seek to avert further catastrophe.

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