What to know about the latest US-Israeli attacks on Iran

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The war in the Middle East expanded on multiple fronts Monday as attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias struck Israel and Arab states as well as U.S. military targets in the region.

The U.S. military said Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter aircraft during a combat mission, though all six pilots ejected safely.

Israel and the United States continued to strike Iran while Israeli forces responded to attacks from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group by hitting targets in southern Lebanon, killing 52 people.

The war began on Saturday with the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike that reverberated around the globe. Reaction ranged from jubilation to condemnation, while the escalating conflict has caused canceled flights, deadly protests, suspended shipping and soaring oil prices.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society on Monday said that attacks on 131 Iranian cities have killed at least 555 people so far in the Islamic Republic. Strikes in Tehran apparently took Iran's state television off the air.

The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran stoked fears of a wider war and damage to the world economy. Meanwhile, Iran has expanded its attacks to regional oil infrastructure, directly targeting the lifeblood of the region's economy.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. objectives include destroying Iran’s naval and missile capabilities and preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said he expects the operation to take 4 to 5 weeks.

”This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.

Three U.S. service members were killed in the Saturday attack on Iran, while another died on Monday from wounds sustained during the initial operation, according to U.S. Central Command.

In the wake of Khamenei’s death, Iran’s provisional governing council is expected to name a new supreme leader. Even before the weekend's deadly strikes, Iran's theocracy had struggled with growing dissent over the economy that morphed into anti-government demonstrations. Activists say Iran's crackdown on protesters killed thousands.

One of the first strikes Saturday hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei, who had ruled since 1989. Israel said that it also killed dozens of other top Iranian military officials.

Iran has launched retaliatory missiles and drones targeting Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting U.S. forces.

Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Shipping companies suspended their vessels’ traffic through the Suez Canal, adding to fears the strikes could rattle global markets.

Elsewhere, fire and smoke poured out of the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait after an Iranian attack.

Bahrain, the island kingdom that is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, says it has intercepted dozens of missiles and attack drones, and that one person was killed.

In Israel, 11 people have been killed, including nine in a strike on a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh.

In Iraq, an Iraqi Shiite militia claimed a drone attack Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in Baghdad.

And at least 22 people were killed in clashes with police in northern Pakistan and in the southern port city of Karachi after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate there, authorities said.

There were global repercussions from disrupted air travel in the region, with hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.

They include athletes heading to the Winter Paralympics in Italy, and former U.S. Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev, who said he’s one of what the ATP Tour calls “a small number of players and team members” it is trying to help leave Dubai.

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Klug reported from Tokyo, Charlton from Paris. Brian Melley in London; Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Amir Radjy in Cairo, Matthew Lee in Washington and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.