At least 51 people were killed in a strike at a girls’ school in southern Iran on Saturday, a provincial official said, according to AFP. The death toll comes hours after the US-Israel launched a “preemptive airstrike” against the Islamic Republic as part of “Operation Epic Fury”.
In addition to the victims, 60 others were injured in the attack in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province, state television reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the ground – and explosions were heard in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.
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Earlier in the day, Trump urged Iranians to “take over” Iran’s government, saying “it’s going to be up to you to take it over. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
Images on social media showed vehicles engulfed in flames in Tehran, with daily life thrown into disarray as clashes continued.
Iran-Israel-USA Clash
Tensions in the Middle East escalated on Saturday as explosions were heard in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital, Abu Dhabi, as well as in Dubai; Doha; and Riyadh, hours after Israel and the United States launched what they described as “major combat operations” against Iran.
One person was killed in Abu Dhabi after authorities in the United Arab Emirates said they had intercepted missiles fired from Iran, Reuters reported.
One witness told the news agency that she heard five booms in rapid succession, causing the windows of a house near Abu Dhabi’s Corniche to vibrate.
Airlines have suspended flights to the Middle East
Global airlines have suspended flights across the regions as a result of the tensions, which have plunged the Middle East into renewed military tension.
Flight charts showed the airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel and Bahrain virtually empty as Israel said it had struck Iran and the US military launched a series of strikes against targets in the country. Iran retaliated with a volley of missiles, Reuters reported.
Indian airline Air India said its Delhi-Tel Aviv flight was diverted to Mumbai amid the closure of Israeli airspace, PTI reported. “AI139 operating from Delhi to Tel Aviv on February 28 is returning to India due to the closure of airspace in Israel and in the interest of passenger and crew safety. We will continue to assess the safety and security environment for our flight operations and proactively adjust operations as necessary,” the Tata Group-owned airline said in a statement.
Airlines canceled nearly 40% of flights to Israel and 6.7% of flights to the wider region on Saturday, according to preliminary data from Cirium accessed by the news agency.
