The death toll from five days of US–Israeli attacks on Iran has climbed to at least 1,045, according to Iranian state media, marking one of the deadliest escalations in the region in years. Civilians are reported among the casualties, with strikes hitting residential areas as well as schools and hospitals, according to International media reports.
Iranian officials say at least 20 schools have been damaged. A United Nations panel of independent experts said it was “deeply disturbed” by reports of an attack on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab that killed at least 165 people. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned that children must be protected from the effects of war.
The bombardment has continued across Tehran, Karaj and Isfahan, with fresh blasts reported in recent hours. Satellite imagery analysed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showed damage to two buildings near the Isfahan nuclear site but no impact on facilities containing nuclear material. The agency said there was no radiological release risk and no new damage at Natanz or Bushehr.
Maritime front widens
The conflict has rapidly expanded beyond Iranian territory into the Gulf and eastern Mediterranean.
A US submarine sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast, according to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Sri Lanka’s navy says 87 bodies have been recovered, while 32 survivors were hospitalised. Around 180 personnel were believed to have been on board.
In the Strait of Hormuz, Oman’s navy rescued 24 crew members from a Maltese-flagged cargo ship reportedly hit by two missiles. Another container vessel was struck by a projectile, causing a fire in its engine room, according to UK maritime monitors. Oil tanker traffic through the strait has reportedly fallen by 90 percent, raising fears of a global energy shock.
Conflict-monitoring group ACLED recorded at least six maritime-linked attacks in 48 hours across Gulf waters, including direct impacts on oil and chemical tankers that left two people dead and several injured.
Regional fallout
Turkiye said a ballistic missile fired from Iran was intercepted by NATO air defence systems in the eastern Mediterranean after passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace. Ankara later summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest the incident. Turkish officials reported no casualties.
Meanwhile, Qatar said it intercepted 10 drones and two cruise missiles launched from Iran, while the United Arab Emirates said it downed three missiles and 121 drones.
Israel’s military said it had dropped more than 5,000 munitions on Iranian targets since the start of its operation, focusing heavily on Tehran. It said it was “deepening air superiority” across the country. Iranian authorities accuse Israel and the US of striking civilian infrastructure, including the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran — an allegation that has drawn concern from the UN cultural agency.
In Israel, air-raid sirens sounded again in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as new waves of Iranian missiles were detected. Hezbollah said it had launched drones at Israeli military targets, including near Haifa and Tel Aviv. Israeli forces have also pushed up to 2km into southern Lebanon, where two Israeli soldiers were reported injured.
A Lebanese minister said 65,000 people have registered in shelters after displacement caused by Israeli strikes.
Political divisions and global alarm
In Washington, Democratic lawmakers have criticised President Donald Trump’s justification for the strikes, warning of the risk of an open-ended ground engagement. Although Trump has not ruled out deploying US troops, military analysts say a large-scale ground invasion appears unlikely given domestic opposition.
Retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said the administration’s “end state” in Iran remained unclear, adding that he had not heard a defined strategic objective.
Iran’s mission to the UN accused the US of launching war to serve Israel’s regional ambitions and warned that the economic consequences would rest on the “initiators of the war”.
Russia accused Washington of inventing a nuclear threat as a pretext for regime change. China said it would dispatch a special envoy to the Middle East for mediation, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi calling attacks on civilians a “red line”.
In Europe, Spain has emerged as a vocal critic. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his country would not be complicit in a conflict he described as potentially catastrophic. US threats to cut trade ties with Madrid over its refusal to allow American bases to be used have triggered solidarity statements from EU leaders.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the strikes appeared, “prima facie”, inconsistent with international law.
At the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin warned that recognition of a right to “preventive war” could set the world ablaze.
Tehran’s response
Iranian officials say they will continue to defend the country and have ruled out negotiations with Washington. A senior aide to the late supreme leader said Tehran had “no trust in the Americans” and could sustain the war “as long as we want”.
An academic in Tehran said the process of electing a new Iranian leader was under way and could conclude within days, though details remain unclear.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claims its capabilities remain largely intact, asserting that many targeted facilities had been evacuated in advance.
A conflict without clear limits
What began as coordinated US–Israeli strikes aimed at degrading Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure has evolved into a multi-front confrontation stretching from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.
Civilian casualties are mounting, commercial shipping and air travels are disrupted, and regional militias are increasingly engaged. With more than 1,045 people reported killed in Iran and dozens more casualties across the region — from Lebanon to international waters — fears are growing that the war could spiral further.
Diplomatic efforts are under way, but with missile exchanges continuing and political rhetoric hardening, the prospect of de-escalation remains uncertain.
For now, the region appears locked in a rapidly intensifying conflict whose humanitarian and economic consequences are already being felt far beyond its borders.
