Iraqi Shiites carry a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a protest against US and Israeli attacks on Iran at a bridge leading to Green Zone where the US embassy is located, in Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday.
Image: AFP
A top Iranian official on Sunday rejected President Donald Trump's warning not to retaliate against massive US-Israel bombardments, saying there would be "no limit" to the country's self-defense.
"Nobody can tell us that you don't have any right to defend yourselves. We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told ABC News.
"What the United States is doing is an act of aggression. What we are doing is the act of self-defense. There are huge differences between these two," he said.
The US military on Sunday said three service members have been killed and five seriously wounded in the operation against Iran - the first casualties of any kind announced on the US side.
The United States and Israel launched massive bombardments against Iran and killed its supreme leader Saturday, with attacks ongoing Sunday.
"Three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury. Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions -- and are in the process of being returned to duty," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
"Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified."
There was no immediate reaction from President Donald Trump, although he gave multiple interviews to US media outlets about other aspects of the Iran operation that were published shortly before the casualties were made public.
The first, brief reaction of a senior US official came from Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz.
"Freedom is never free," he posted on social media site X.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Trump's Republican Party, posted that he was "heartbroken" over the casualties.
"No more American heroes need to die because of a reckless decision to go to war. Congress must act this week to restrain this president," Jeffries said.
US air and naval forces -- together with Israel's military -- are heavily bombarding Iran, and Trump has said the goal is to destroy the country's military capacity.
In response, Iran has fired missiles at targets in Israel and at US military facilities around the region.
Earlier Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had successfully struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf with four ballistic missiles.
However, CENTCOM said the aircraft carrier "was not hit."
"The missiles launched didn't even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM's relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime," a statement said.
Some Iranians took to the streets cheering with joy, setting off fireworks and playing celebratory music after reports of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's death, according to witnesses and video footage. The celebrations in Tehran began shortly after 11:00 pm.
People were not, however, coming out en masse to celebrate, according to social media. Many Iranians were fearful after the deadly crackdown on mass anti-government protests in January.
The thousands who did gather in the centre of Iran's capital were instead mourning Khamenei's death, according to AFP journalists.
The mourners, dressed mostly in black and some crying, chanted "death to America" and "death to Israel" in Enghelab (Revolution) Square, with many waving Iran's flags and holding photos of Khamenei.
Cape Times