Kanal13Nationals from 19 countries were evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan on Monday amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East. According to Associated Press the war 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. 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 where at least 31 were killed and 149 injured.
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 to Khamenei’s death ranged from jubilation to condemnation, while the escalating conflict has caused cancelled flights, deadly protests, suspended shipping and soaring oil prices. The Iranian Red Crescent Society on Monday said that attacks on 131 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.
