Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate sharply as Iran faces unprecedented air strikes from US and Israeli forces. Civilian casualties are mounting, regional militias are joining the fray, and global markets and diplomacy are feeling the shockwaves. The humanitarian and strategic stakes have never been higher.
Here’s a quick wrap of the latest so far today.
Iranian authorities drastically revised their death toll on Monday, with the Iranian Red Crescent now reporting over 555 people have been killed in strikes across Iran since the war began, with hundreds more wounded.
These figures include civilians and combatants. More than 130 cities across the country have come under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel, according to authorities there.
So far, the deadliest of these attacks was a US–Israeli air attack on a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, killing more than 100 children and civilians, according to Iran’s envoy at the UN.
Iranian officials and international outlets have described the school strike as particularly brutal, contributing to widespread condemnation.
Meanwhile, multiple US warplanes crashed in Kuwait amid the fighting as air space vulnerability heightens with Iran pressing on for a third day of strikes in the Gulf.
According to a TRT World correspondent in Tehran, Iran state TV says a US F-15 jet in Kuwait was downed after Iranian air defence fire. All crew were reported to have survived and were evacuated for medical evaluation.
Hezbollah joins the fray
Hezbollah, a long‑standing Iranian ally, has also entered the conflict by firing missiles and drones at northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei’s killing marked a seismic moment in the conflict, removing the central figure who had guided Iran’s political, military and regional policy for decades. His killing in joint US–Israeli strikes not only created a leadership vacuum in Tehran but also served as a catalyst for a broader escalation across the Middle East.
Hezbollah’s entrance marks a significant escalation as it had not actively participated in the earlier June 2025 Iran-Israel conflict to this degree.
The group’s involvement followed the killing of several top Iranian figures, including Khamenei, a turning point that appears to have triggered wider militia engagement across the region.
Israel has responded with extensive air strikes on Hezbollah’s positions, including in Beirut’s southern suburbs, causing dozens of deaths and prompting evacuations.
Iran expands attacks to regional oil infrastructure
With world markets already rattled by the fighting and oil prices soaring, Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack on Monday from Iranian drones, with defences downing the incoming aircraft.
Ras Tanura, near the city of Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, is one of the world’s largest with a capacity over half a million barrels of crude oil a day. It was temporarily shut down as a precaution after the attack, Saudi state television reported.
Oil prices had surged sharply, with brent crude jumping 10 percent to about $80 a barrel over the counter and international stock markets have reacted negatively amid fears of prolonged conflict and supply disruptions
Analysts are warning prices could spike even further if disruptions persist.
Global reaction
France and other European leaders have openly questioned the lack of prior referral to the United Nations Security Council before the US–Israeli strikes on Iran, urging diplomacy and restraint.
China and Russia have expressed serious concern, calling for an immediate halt to violence and respect for Iran’s sovereignty.
