THE United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday, with Israel’s public broadcaster reporting that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic, said they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, other American interests in the Gulf and Israel.
Iran’s regionwide missile salvo could be heard in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE, as well as Israel and Iraq, in the hours following the first strikes, after it had repeatedly vowed to retaliate fiercely should it be attacked.
In Manila, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday said the safety of Filipinos in Iran and across the Middle East remains the government’s top priority following reports of airstrikes that hit Iran.
“The safety of Filipino citizens in Iran and in the Middle East is paramount. I have instructed the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) to take measures to determine their whereabouts in affected areas and to take immediate measures to ensure their safety,” Mr. Marcos said.
The President said authorities are still verifying information about the reported strikes, but stressed that protective measures for overseas Filipinos are being undertaken without delay.
A strike on a school in Iran killed 24 people, an Iranian provincial official said, while in Israel the army deployed search and rescue teams to multiple locations following reports of fallen projectiles.
In the UAE, the defense ministry said Iranian strikes had killed one civilian, and witnesses in Dubai heard an explosion and saw missiles streak across the sky.
Smoke was rising over Tehran’s Pasteur district, site of the home of Khamenei, and there was a huge security deployment in the capital.
“Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack,” Israel’s Kan reported, citing an Israeli source.
Iranian state television said Pezeshkian was “safe and sound,” while the Fars news agency said “missile impacts were reported in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts” of Tehran.
Witnesses told AFP correspondents they had heard at least three blasts in the area. AFP journalists also saw long lines of people queuing at bakeries at various locations in Tehran.
The attacks came after US President Donald Trump expressed frustration at Iran’s stance in negotiations over its nuclear and missile programs.
Trump said Washington’s goal was “eliminating imminent threats” from Iran, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was to remove an “existential threat.”
“The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video message posted on his social media site while he spent the weekend at his Florida golf club.
Totally ‘obliterated’
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy,” Trump said, warning of possible US casualties.
He offered Iranian forces including the Revolutionary Guards “immunity” should they surrender, or “certain death” if not, and told Iranians the “hour of your freedom is at hand,” urging them to rise up and “take over your government.”
Israel’s Netanyahu echoed this call, telling Iranians that the time had come to “cast off the yoke of tyranny.”
The Israeli army warned Iranians in or around military infrastructure across Iran to evacuate after announcing it was conducting a “broad strike” on multiple military targets.
Iran again vowed to “respond decisively to the aggressors,” and the Guards announced they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as well as targets in Israel.
“The IRGC’s missiles and drones have struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as military and security centres in the heart of the occupied territories, with severe blows,” the Guards said.
“I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets,” a Tehran office worker told AFP on condition of anonymity. “At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet.”
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE, and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and multiple airlines canceled flights to the Middle East. US embassies in the Gulf urged American citizens to take shelter.
Blasts and sirens
Explosions were also heard over central Doha and near Al-Udeid military base, the largest US facility in the region, and an AFP journalist saw an interceptor take out one missile in a puff of white smoke, as Qatar’s defense ministry said it had “repelled a number of attacks”.
Kuwait and the UAE also reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles, with Abu Dhabi saying it “reserves its full right to respond” and slamming the attacks as “a dangerous escalation.”
A bombing that targeted an Iraqi military base housing a pro-Iran group killed at least two fighters, sources from the powerful group Kataeb Hezbollah told AFP.
“We will soon begin attacking American bases in response to their aggression,” the group said.
With the strikes underway, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah voiced confidence in victory against the Islamic republic.
“We are very close to final victory. I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran,” Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the Washington area, said in an online video address.
Countries in the Middle East and around the world voiced fear of a regional conflagration after the United States and Israel carried out long-feared strikes on Iran on Saturday.
Russia: Talks a ‘cover’
Russia called on its citizens to leave Iran, with former president Dmitry Medvedev saying that talks with the United States had just been a “cover.”
“The peacekeeper is at it again,” Medvedev, now the chair of Russia’s security council, said in a post on X.
“The talks with Iran were just a cover. Everyone knew that. So who has more patience to wait for the enemy’s sorry end now?” he added.
Qatar: ‘secure’
Qatar, which hosts a US military base, initially said it was secure after the US and Israeli attacks on neighbouring Iran but was monitoring developments closely.
An official later told AFP that Qatari defence systems had intercepted an Iranian missile, and the defence ministry said it had repelled “a number of attacks.”
EU: ‘perilous’
The European Union warned the situation in the region was “perilous” and called for civilians to be protected in any ensuing conflict.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, on X, urged “all parties to exercise restraint,” stressing it was “critical” to “ensure nuclear safety” after the US indicated Iran’s nuclear sites were in its crosshairs.
EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who said the situation was dangerous, announcing the withdrawal of the bloc’s non-essential personnel from the region.
UK: avoid ‘wider conflict’
The UK government feared the strikes could blow up into a broader Middle East conflict, and urged its citizens in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE to find shelter.
“We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict,” a government spokesperson said, adding that the UK’s “immediate priority” was the safety of its citizens in the region.
Shah’s son: ‘final victory’ near
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah and a leading critic of Tehran, said that “we are very close to final victory” following the strikes.
“I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran,” Pahlavi — who lives in exile in the Washington area — said in a message to Iranians.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro said the Philippines is closely monitoring developments and expressed concern over the escalating tensions in the region.
“The Philippines is concerned about the escalation of the situation in the Middle East region and calls on all parties to resort immediately to dialogue and negotiations to bring peace and stability to the region,” Lazaro said.
According to the DFA chief, Marcos has been informed that Philippine embassies in Tehran and Tel Aviv, as well as posts in Gulf Cooperation Council countries hosting large Filipino communities, are on full alert.
The Foreign Affairs Department reported that no Filipinos have been harmed or affected as of the latest update.
Philippine embassies likewise remain ready to assist Filipino nationals, advising those in affected areas to stay indoors or in safe locations and avoid public places while the situation remains volatile.
