The US‑Israel campaign against Iran entered its sixth day, with American forces said to be prepared to give air support to Kurdish fighters should they become involved. Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that dissident Kurdish groups from Iran, based in northern Iraq, were gearing up for a possible cross‑border operation inside Iran, and the United States has asked Iraqi Kurds to assist them. Heavy waves of airstrikes have struck dozens of military sites, border outposts and police stations along the northern stretch of Iran’s frontier with Iraq, appearing to be a joint US‑Israeli preparation for a new front in the conflict.
Analysts warned that arming armed factions from Iran’s ethnic minorities would “open a hornet’s nest,” deepening internal divisions and raising the likelihood of a chaotic civil war if the present regime falls.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Ali Khamenei, is widely expected to succeed his father as Iran’s supreme leader, positioning a hard‑line figure to steer the Islamic Republic through the most turbulent phase of its 48‑year existence and signalling that, for now, the leadership does not intend to alter its course.
A US submarine launched a torpedo that sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. At least 87 Iranian sailors died when the Iris Dena was hit on Wednesday. The frigate was in international waters returning from a naval drill organized by India in the Bay of Bengal. The strike raised questions from former US officials about whether Washington’s aim of neutralizing Iran’s navy violated international law.
Iran fired missiles at Israel early Thursday. Air‑raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem shortly after the Israeli military announced fresh strikes in Lebanon aimed at the Iranian‑backed Hezbollah militia in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Air traffic showed a modest rise, even as travel across the region remained heavily disrupted by the expanding Iran war. Governments worldwide are hastening to repatriate their citizens from the Middle East. Officials have chartered jets or deployed military aircraft, routing stranded travelers through Oman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia—key exit points where planes can land and take off.
Top US military leaders told lawmakers in a closed‑door briefing on Tuesday that they may not be able to intercept every Iranian drone targeting military installations and assets, according to two sources. The briefing, led by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, noted that Iran has been launching thousands of one‑way attack drones; while the United States can down most of the barrage, it cannot eliminate all of them.
Senate Republicans rejected a war‑powers resolution that would have required former President Donald Trump to obtain congressional approval before continuing the war with Iran.
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