Tehran: As West Asia conflict intensifies following Ayatollah Khamenei’s killing in Saturday’s US-Israel strikes, Iran claimed Monday that a US F-15 fighter jet was downed over Kuwait.
Citing local sources, IRNA shared a video purporting to show the F-15’s downing “in the skies above Kuwait earlier on Monday morning.” The report emerges amid heightened regional hostilities.
US CENTCOM countered on X, accusing Iran of targeting civilian sites including Dubai and Kuwait International Airports, Zayed International Airport, Erbil, Dubai Port, and residential areas in Israel, Bahrain, and Qatar—contradicting Iran’s UN claim of striking only US assets.
Al Jazeera reported fresh explosions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with loud blasts in Doha. Arab media said Iranian missiles and drones hit Kuwait and Bahrain, while Reuters cited eyewitnesses seeing smoke near the US embassy in Kuwait.
Kuwait’s Air Defence Force confirmed early Monday it intercepted “a number of hostile aerial targets” at dawn with no casualties, maintaining full airspace readiness.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani rejected US negotiations outright. This follows the formation of a Provisional Leadership Council after Khamenei’s death in Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion, which also killed top security officials.
The interim council, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, governs until a new supreme leader is chosen. State media reports 201 deaths across 24 provinces. US President Trump urged Iranians Saturday to topple their government, calling it a generational opportunity.
