Early Saturday, coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes hit targets in Iran. Iran responded by firing missiles across the region, and the conflict widened into a second day. Images from multiple cities capture the damage, the fear and the wide range of reactions across the world.
Plumes of smoke billow over Tehran after a series of explosions, a stark sign of the strikes that shook the capital. In the streets of Tehran, government supporters waved Iranian flags and rallied against the US and Israeli attacks, while other scenes show mourners gathering after state television announced the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
First responders in Tel Aviv rushed to the scene after an Iranian strike there, tending to damage and rescuing the injured. In Manama, Bahrain, emergency crews worked to extinguish a building fire caused by retaliation strikes, underscoring how the fighting reverberated beyond Iran and Israel.
Public squares in Tehran filled with people mourning the leader killed in the airstrikes, and portraits of Khamenei were displayed at protests in other cities. In Sanaa, under Houthi control, demonstrators held flags and images of the ayatollah in a show of support for Tehran.
Across the globe, reactions were sharply divided. In Los Angeles and Houston protesters demonstrated for and against further military action, with signs calling for no new US wars and others urging support for Iran. In Glasgow, members of the Iranian community were seen celebrating the strikes, reflecting the deep splits within the diaspora.
Scenes of ordinary life under threat included families sheltering in an underground parking garage in Tel Aviv as air-raid sirens sounded and a lone observer watching smoke rise over Tehran’s skyline. Together, the photos portray a region and a world responding with grief, defiance, fear and protest as the confrontation continues to escalate.