Iran conflict widens to Lebanon, Kuwait mistakenly shoots down US jets

The U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran expanded on Monday with no end in sight, with Israel attacking Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah, and Tehran firing missiles and drones at Gulf states and a British air base as far away as Cyprus.

Kuwait mistakenly shot down three American F-15E fighter jets during an Iranian attack. All six crew members ejected and were safely recovered. Video, filmed at a location verified by Reuters, showed one of the planes spiralling out of the sky, an engine lit up in flames.

After a weekend of bombing that killed Iran’s supreme leader, dragged its neighbours into war and shut shipping traffic in the Gulf, markets opened on Monday with energy prices rising sharply, putting the global economic recovery at risk.

HEGSETH SAYS TIME FRAME UP TO TRUMP

In the first formal Pentagon briefing since the campaign began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to set out a time frame to end the campaign, saying it was up to President Donald Trump.

The military’s aim was to destroy Iran’s ability to project force beyond its borders, which it had been using to provide cover to develop a nuclear weapon, Hegseth said.

“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” he said.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, described a campaign of overwhelming force that included hitting more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours, and said more forces were still on their way to the region.

“This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work,” Caine said.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon and says it was offering to curb its nuclear programme at talks when the United States launched an unprovoked assault.

In the biggest U.S. foreign policy gamble in decades, Trump launched the campaign alongside Israel against a foe that had tormented the U.S. and its allies for generations.

Trump repeated his calls on Iranians to rise up and overthrow their leaders, and said the air campaign could last weeks. Within Iran, where residents have jammed highways to flee cities as bombs fell, there was uncertainty about the future and emotion ranging from euphoria to apprehension and rage.

Many Iranians openly celebrated the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, who had ruled the country for 37 years and directed security forces that killed thousands of anti-government protesters at the start of this year.

But the conservative clerical leaders have shown no sign of yielding power. Military experts say U.S. and Israeli air power, with no armed force on the ground, may not be enough to drive them out. Meanwhile, scores of Iranians have been reported killed in strikes, including several that hit apparent civilian targets.

“They are killing children, they are attacking hospitals. Is this the kind of democracy Trump wants to bring us? Innocent people were first killed by the regime and now by Israel and the United States,” Morteza Sedighi, a 52-year-old teacher, said by phone from Tabriz in northwestern Iran.

WAR SPREADS TO LEBANON

In a sign Iran’s rulers are still reaching out to the outside world, a senior Iranian security official contacted Reuters to say Iran was defending itself against aggressors and would continue to do so.

A new front in the war opened on Monday when Hezbollah, one of Tehran’s principal allies in the Middle East, launched missiles and drones towards Israel.

Israel responded with sweeping airstrikes, which it said targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut and struck senior militants. Lebanese state news agency NNA said an initial tally showed 31 people had been killed and 149 injured.

Israel declared Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem a “target for elimination”. Officials said they were not for now considering a ground invasion of Lebanon, whose government on Monday banned military activities by Hezbollah.

As Washington’s allies in the Gulf came under renewed attack from Iranian missiles and drones, black smoke rose above the area around the U.S. embassy in Kuwait. There were loud blasts in Dubai and Samha in the UAE, and in Doha, capital of Qatar.

Qatar, one of the world’s biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas, halted production. Saudi Arabia shut its biggest refinery after drone strikes caused a fire there, one of a number of energy installations that became targets.

In the first strike to reach U.S. allies in Europe, a drone hit Britain’s Akrotiri air base in Cyprus overnight. Britain and Cyprus said the damage was limited and there were no casualties.

European allies, which distanced themselves from Trump’s initial decision to go to war, have since said they would help suppress Iran’s ability to retaliate.

In an X post on Monday, Ali Larijani, a powerful adviser to Khamenei, said Iran would not negotiate with Trump, who had “delusional ambitions” and was now worried about U.S. casualties.

FIRST US CASUALTIES

U.S. Central Command said a fourth U.S. service member had died, without giving details of the circumstances. The deaths of the first three American service personnel were confirmed on Sunday. Two U.S. officials told Reuters they were killed on a base in Kuwait.

An extended military campaign could pose a major political risk for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of U.S. midterm elections. Only around one in four Americans approve of the operation, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the interruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz – where around a fifth of the world’s oil trade passes along the Iranian coast – jolted global economies. Oil prices leapt by double-digit percentages when trade opened on Monday. Shares fell and the dollar surged.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had hit three U.S. and UK oil tankers in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping data showed hundreds of vessels including oil and gas tankers dropping anchor in nearby waters.

Global air travel was also heavily disrupted as airstrikes kept major Middle Eastern airports closed.