More than 870 dead as US–Israel strikes on Iran ignite regional war

More than 870 people have been killed across the Middle East since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, as per US media reports.

The majority of reported fatalities have occurred in Iran, where U.S. and Israeli forces say they are conducting sustained operations aimed at dismantling the country’s nuclear capabilities and weakening its leadership. The campaign has included repeated air and missile strikes across multiple provinces.

However, the violence has not been confined to Iran. Deaths have also been reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Israel. Six American soldiers have also been killed.

The human toll has extended beyond the region’s citizens. In Israel, one of those killed was a Filipino woman employed as a caretaker. In the United Arab Emirates, the defence ministry said Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationals were among the dead, underscoring the multinational impact of the conflict.

Inside Iran, the Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Monday that 787 people had been killed across more than 150 counties since hostilities began. Among those targeted were senior Iranian officials. President Donald Trump acknowledged that U.S. and Israeli strikes had eliminated some figures once seen as potential successors to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Saturday in an attack on his compound in Tehran.

Civilians have also borne heavy losses. On Tuesday, thousands gathered for the funeral of victims of a strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ school in the town of Minab. The attack, which occurred Saturday near a base belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, left 175 people dead, most of them believed to be children. It is considered one of the deadliest single incidents of the war to date.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, a shipyard worker was killed at Khalifa bin Salman Port in Bahrain during an attack on an oil tanker in dry dock flying the U.S. maritime flag, according to Crowley, the Florida-based company operating the vessel.

In Kuwait, the defence ministry said Monday that two Kuwaiti soldiers were killed while on duty; their funerals were held on March 3. The country’s health ministry reported early Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl died after being struck by shrapnel in a residential neighbourhood. Emergency crews attempted to save her, but she succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.

The United States has also suffered losses in Kuwait. The United States Central Command reported that three American service members were killed and five seriously wounded Sunday in an Iranian strike on a base housing U.S. troops. Subsequent reports confirmed that the total number of American soldiers killed in Kuwait has risen to six.

By Tamilla Hasanova