Iran vows revenge for Khamenei killing “You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg”
Dubai: Iran vowed revenge on Sunday after the killing of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, confirmed by state officials and US President Donald Trump, traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by a surprise US and Israeli bombardment, and rained missiles on other Gulf nations. The US military said three service members have been killed, the first known American casual ties from the conflict. In Israel, nine people died in the city of Beit Shemesh in an Iranian missile strike. Other Gulf nations began counting their dead from Iranian retaliatory strikes while Israel pledged "non stop" strikes against Iran. Iranian authorities said more than 200 people had been killed since the start of the strikes, including six senior officials apart from Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran formed a new governing council comprising senior cleric Ayatollah Aoreza Arafi, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian and Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei, head of the judiciary. A senior US official said that “new potential leadership" in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the US. Tehran attacked the UAE but said it is attacking US bases located in those countries.
An Oman port and an oil tanker off its coast were attacked Sunday, official media said, marking the first strikes on the sultanate -- which mediated US-Iran talks -- since Tehran launched a retaliation campaign.
Iran's continued Gulf bombardment has raised fears of a wider conflict and rattled a region long seen as a haven of peace and security in the turbulent Middle East.
"A security source reported that the commercial port of Duqm was targeted by two drones," the Oman News Agency said in a social media post.
"One drone struck a mobile workers' accommodation, injuring one foreign worker, while debris from the other landed near fuel tanks, causing no casualties or material damage," it added.
Shortly after, Oman said an oil tanker was targeted off the coast. Its crew was evacuated and four of them were injured, the news agency reported.
What to know so far:
- How we got here: The joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, which officials say was planned for months, followed unsuccessful negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program and warnings from Trump. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and targeting U.S. military installations in the region.
- Arafi to lead temporarily: Alireza Arafi was appointed on Sunday as the jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council, a body tasked with fulfilling the supreme leader’s role until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader, Reuters report said citing ISNA news agency.
- Violence in Pakistan: At least six people have been killed in Karachi after protesters stormed the US Consulate in response to the killing of Khamenei. Local authorities report the situation is currently under “control” but remains volatile.
- Regional retaliation: Iran has launched a massive wave of drone and missile strikes. Explosions have been reported for a second consecutive day in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.
- Humanitarian toll: The Iranian Red Crescent reports over 201 fatalities nationwide, including a strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran with at least 85 feared dead.
- Airport Disruptions in Gulf: Major flight cancellations reported at Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai airports due to ongoing drone activity and interceptions by Saudi and Jordanian defences.
- Iran’s chief of army staff and defense minister killed in airstrike: Iran’s chief of army staff and defense minister were killed in an airstrike targeting a meeting of the country’s defense council, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
Live Updates
- 28 Feb 2026 8:58 PM IST
Second person injured in Israel after new Iran missile salvo: Emergency services
JERUSALEM: Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said Saturday they were evacuating a 17-year-old to hospital with lower limb injuries following a new salvo of Iranian missiles, the second injury in Israel since the morning.
"Update following the missile fire towards Israel, MDA EMTs and paramedics are treating a 17-year-old male and evacuating him to hospital in mild condition with injuries to his lower limbs," an MDA statement said. — AFP
- 28 Feb 2026 8:56 PM IST
Iranian foreign minister’s remarks come in NBC News interview
Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know.” — AP
- 28 Feb 2026 8:27 PM IST
Oil prices set to see price swings
Oil markets are closed for the weekend but are set to see price swings next week with the impact of the U.S. strikes on production and transport unclear.
Pre-conflict scenarios have foreseen a quick price spike that fades if Iranian pipelines and its Kharg island terminal remain operational. But there would be a bigger price spike and longer-lasting impact if oil infrastructure or supplies are interrupted, for instance because of disruption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that sees 20% of global oil supply pass through each day.
Limited strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that avoid a change of government or all-out war could see prices jump $5-$10 based on fear alone, according to Rystad Energy.
A wider war, however, involving Iranian disruption of tanker traffic could see crude push past $90 per barrel and U.S. gas prices “well above” $3 per gallon, according to Clayton Seigle at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
International benchmark Brent crude closed at a seven-month high of $72.87 on Friday.
- 28 Feb 2026 8:26 PM IST
Saudi capital targeted by Iran
Saudi Arabia says Iran targeted its capital, Riyadh, and its eastern region in an attack.
Saudi Arabia made the announcement on its state-run Saudi Press Agency. It called the attack “blatant and cowardly” and said it was repelled. Saudi Arabia had reached a Chinese-mediated detente with Iran in 2023. — AP
- 28 Feb 2026 8:06 PM IST
Reports Suggest Iran's Defence Minister Killed in Pre-Emptive Israeli Strikes
Reports Suggest Iran's Defence Minister Killed in Pre-Emptive Israeli Strikes
Amid rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East, multiple reports indicate that Iran's Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh (also cited in varying reports as Amir Hatami) and senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Pakpour were killed in Israeli strikes between February 27 and 28, 2026.
- 28 Feb 2026 7:49 PM IST
Missiles and drones shot down over northern Iraq
The counterterrorism unit in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish-run region says that U.S.-led coalition forces had “intercepted and shot down a number of missiles and bomb-laden drones in Irbil province.”
There were no casualties or damage reported from the attacks or their interception, but Irbil saw widespread power outages after a key gas field that supplies much of the region’s electricity stopped operations.
The Kurdish regional government’s ministries of natural resources and electricity says that Dana Gas, which operates the Khor Mor field, had halted operations “due to the extraordinary circumstances and the ongoing events in the region and in order to protect the lives of employees.”
The field has in the past periodically been targeted by drone strikes. The halting of production there will decrease electricity production capacity in the region by between 2,500 and 3,000 megawatts, the ministries said. — AP
- 28 Feb 2026 7:18 PM IST
Iranians flock to supermarkets
In northern Tehran, supermarkets are seeing a surge of customers seeking bread and bottled water.
However, supply has been limited, and some of the items most in demand, including bread, eggs, bottled water and milk, are currently unavailable in certain stores.
Long queues have also been observed at gas stations across the city.
State television showed footage from one of Tehran’s highways, Soleimani highway, where extremely heavy traffic was visible on west-to-east routes. — AP
- 28 Feb 2026 7:16 PM IST
Targets of the Israeli strikes included members of Iran’s leadership
Two people familiar with the operation, including a U.S. official and a person briefed on the attacks, said the targets of the Israeli strikes included members of Iran’s leadership.
There was no word on whether the attacks were successful. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information on an ongoing operation.
