US-Israel attack on Iran Day 5 updates: Israel’s airstrikes intensify, leadership vacuum deepens in Iran & Trump’s four objectives
Israeli airstrikes pounded Iranian missile infrastructure, while Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles and expanded attacks across the Gulf region, disrupting energy routes and aviation corridors.
Explosions echoed across Tehran and parts of Lebanon. The American embassy in Saudi Arabia came under drone attack. In Israel, air raid sirens continued to wail as incoming Iranian missiles were intercepted mid-air.
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Four days into a conflict that US President Donald Trump has suggested could last “several weeks but perhaps longer,” the war has already killed hundreds in Iran and at least 11 in Israel.
Israeli air campaign expands across Iran and Lebanon
Israel said it conducted a fresh wave of airstrikes targeting ballistic missile launchers, storage sites and production facilities.
According to the Israeli military:
- Airstrikes hit sites in Tehran and Isfahan linked to the production and storage of ballistic missiles.
- Additional troops were moved into southern Lebanon.
- Beirut was struck again after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on Monday.
New rounds of US and Israeli airstrikes rattled Tehran and other Iranian cities overnight.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site had sustained “some recent damage,” though there was “no radiological consequence expected.” Natanz had previously been targeted during the 12-day war in June, when US and Israeli strikes significantly weakened Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged, without presenting evidence, that Iran was constructing “new sites, new places” underground to build atomic bombs. Iran has denied enriching uranium since June and insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Also read: What space images show about the strikes on Iran’s missile bases?
Iran retaliates with missiles and regional strikes
Iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles into Israel since the war began. Although the pace of launches appeared to be slowing, several projectiles landed, killing 11 people.
Beyond Israel, Iran expanded its retaliation across the Gulf:
- Strikes hit two Amazon data centres in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.
- Energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia were targeted.
- Several ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
- The American embassy in Saudi Arabia came under drone attack.
The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of globally traded oil passes — became a flashpoint.
“The Strait of Hormuz is closed,” declared Iranian Brig Gen Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guard, vowing that any ships that passed through it would be set on fire.
The attacks sent global oil and natural gas prices soaring and triggered widespread travel disruptions across the Middle East.
Leadership vacuum after Khamenei’s death
The conflict has been further complicated by the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in initial US-Israeli strikes.
Iran’s leadership is now scrambling to choose a successor — only the second such transition since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Potential candidates range from hardliners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists favouring diplomatic engagement.
President Donald Trump said some individuals his administration had considered as possible future Iranian leaders were among those killed.
“As far as possible leaders inside Iran, ‘the people we had in mind are dead,’” Trump said Tuesday.
He added: “I guess the worst case would be do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen. We don’t want that to happen.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump also said that Reza Pahlavi — the exiled son of Iran’s toppled Shah — was not someone his administration had considered in depth as a successor. He suggested instead that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be best positioned to take power once the campaign concludes.
Despite Trump earlier urging Iranians to overthrow their government, senior US administration officials have since clarified that regime change is not an official objective.
US objectives and possibility of escalation
Trump outlined four stated goals of the military campaign:
- Destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
- Wipe out its navy.
- Prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
- Ensure it cannot continue supporting allied armed groups.
However, he left open the possibility of deeper US involvement. In remarks to the New York Post on Monday, Trump said he was not ruling out the possibility of “boots on the ground.”
The shifting rhetoric has raised questions about Washington’s endgame and whether the conflict could expand further.
Life under bombardment in Tehran
Information from inside Iran remains limited due to disrupted communications, ongoing airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists. Still, accounts from residents paint a picture of mounting anxiety.
“Since midnight, I and my wife are hearing sound of explosions,” said Ali Amoli, an engineer living in north Tehran. “Sometimes from the west side of the city and sometimes from other directions.”
A resident of north Tehran, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, described shuttered storefronts in the normally busy Tajrish district. Most stores were closed and ATMs were largely “out of cash,” though bakeries and supermarkets remained open.
Local media published images of a damaged commercial plane at Bushehr airport that reportedly broke apart after an airstrike.
