After the United States and Israel launched a regime change operation against Iran on Saturday morning, footage that appeared on social media and was located by CNN provided a clue to its impact.
The attack hit a prominent Iranian military target and led to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, according to an announcement from President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Dozens of students were killed in a single airstrike at an elementary school in southern Iran, state media said.
In retaliation, the Iranian government carried out attacks across the Middle East. Footage from at least five Arab countries that host U.S. military bases, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, shows a range of Iranian attack sites, from U.S. naval facilities to Dubai’s upscale Palm Jumeirah area.
Following initial reports of attacks across the Iranian capital, footage that surfaced from inside Tehran showed extensive damage to several key political and military buildings.
The joint US-Israeli attack appears to indicate that high-ranking politicians were targeted at the residence of Iran’s supreme leader. It was not immediately clear which countries, or both, targeted the compound.
Smoke can be seen rising from the Supreme Leader’s compound.
The complex, known as Beit Rabari, has long been the base of the Ayatollah’s decades-long grip on power. CNN has located multiple videos from various angles that appear to show smoke rising from the property.
This satellite image taken by Airbus shows damage to several buildings on the site. It is unclear whether that is where Khamenei was killed.
As smoke billowed across the city of about 10 million people, video geolocated by CNN also appeared to show the attack on Iran’s intelligence ministry complex.
Video shows smoke rising near Iran’s Intelligence Ministry
U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources say they are attacking military targets, but videos also show attacks impacting densely populated civilian areas.
The highest civilian death toll to date was reportedly caused by a strike on a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab. At least 85 students were killed at Shajaba Tayyiba school, state news agency IRNA reported, citing prosecutors in the city of Minab, where the school was located. The Red Crescent Society put the death toll even higher, at 108.
Video showing aftermath of Iranian school strike
The school is about 200 feet (60 meters) from an Iranian military base and appears to have previously been part of the facility, but satellite images show it has been separated from the base since at least 2016. Another video seen and located by CNN shows multiple fires at a military base next to the school.
Asked about the attack, U.S. Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said: “We are aware of reports of harm to civilians due to ongoing military operations. We take these reports seriously and are investigating them. The protection of civilians is of paramount importance and we continue to take every precaution to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”
Immediately after the U.S. and Israeli attacks began, Iran launched a rapid counterattack targeting areas across the region, including multiple U.S. military bases. Iran also launched dozens of ballistic missiles toward Israel, according to Noor News, a news organization affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to the Revolutionary Guards, targets include Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, and a US naval base in Bahrain. Iranian state media said the attacks targeted a US military base in northern Iraq as well as Jordan’s Muwaffaq al-Salti air base.
One of the most notable attacks captured on video was the attack by Iran on the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
A video taken near the US naval base in Manama, Bahrain, shows an Iranian Shahid drone crashing directly into the facility’s radar dome. The drone attack occurred near an earlier attack on the 5th Fleet.
Video showing Iranian drone attack on US naval base in Bahrain
Iranian drones have also struck commercial and residential targets in the Persian Gulf. Videos geolocated by CNN show a Shahed drone attack near the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai, causing a massive explosion and fire.
The Fairmont is located in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s luxury residential complex. Palm Jumeirah is a cluster of man-made islands off the city’s beaches, known for its luxury apartments, hotels, and restaurants.
Dramatic video of Shahed drone attacking Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah area
Dramatic video of Shahed drone attacking Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah area
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Several videos from Bahrain show one of the Shahed drones crashing into the upper floors of Ela Views Tower, a high-rise residential building about a mile from the U.S. naval base.
Video shows high-rise residential building attacked in Bahrain
A drone attack on Kuwait’s international airport injured several people and caused limited damage to the passenger terminal, the Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority said. Video recorded from inside the airport appears to show the aftermath of the strike.
By Saturday evening, a producer at CNN’s bureau in Tel Aviv shared video of the projectile landing amid warning sirens. One of the missiles appeared to penetrate Israeli air defenses and land in the Tel Aviv area, causing a massive explosion and casting a large dark cloud over the sky.
Video showing missile attack on Tel Aviv
The U.S.-Israeli operation is expected to last several days, two sources said, and the Israel Defense Forces said the attack had been planned for months in close coordination with the United States. The Iranian military said it would provide a “historical lesson” to the United States and Israel as Tehran continues to retaliate.
