Deaths, travel chaos mount as Iran lashes out at U.S. allies across Gulf

The U.S. military confirmed Monday that three American F-15 fighter jets were shot down over Kuwait in what U.S. Central Command called "an apparent friendly fire incident."

The F-15 Strike Eagles "flying in support of Operation Epic Fury" crashed in Kuwait amid attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones that the U.S. and its regional allies have been racing to intercept. 

"The U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," CENTCOM said in a statement Monday, adding that "all six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition."

CENTCOM said the Kuwaitis had "acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation."

State television in Cyprus, a small island nation in the Eastern Mediterranean, said sirens blared at a British air force base Monday and U.K. fighter jets were scrambled after the base ⁠was targeted by a drone amid Iran's strikes across the region.

In a live broadcast, Cyprus' CyBC reported sirens ‌going off at the base and aircraft taking ‌off from the ‌facility near the city of Limassol, according to the Reuters news agency.

The U.K. is allowing the U.S. to use three main British bases to facilitate its assault on Iran: Diego Garcia, an Island in the Indian Ocean, along with the Akrotiri air base in Cyprus and an airbase in England, a source familiar with the situation told CBS News on Sunday.

Reports on Monday suggested only minor damage from a suspected Iranian drone strike to the runway at the Akrotiri base.

Reuters cited CyBC as saying a passenger terminal at an airport in Paphos, Cyprus, was evacuated Monday, meanwhile, ⁠after a suspicious object was detected on ‌radar.  

The British defense chief John Healey said Sunday that Iran had fired two missiles "in the direction of Cyprus," but that it was unclear whether the Akrotiri base had been deliberately targeted.

An Israeli military spokesperson said Monday that there were no imminent plans to launch a ground invasion of neighboring Lebanon, home of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group, after an overnight attack by the group prompted Israel to retaliate with airstrikes.

"There is nothing on the ground that constitutes going into ground invasion... imminently," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists when asked if Israel would send troops into Lebanon.

"In the short term, immediate time, the answer would be no," Shoshani said.

Germany will not actively participate in military action against Iran but will consider defending its soldiers stationed on multinational military bases in Jordan and Iraq if they get attacked, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday morning.

"The federal government has no intention of participating" in the conflict, Wadephul told Deutschlandfunk public radio. "We also do not have the necessary military resources."

Multinational bases where German troops are stationed in Erbil, northern Iraq, and Al-Azraq in Jordan were targeted oiver the weekend, the German military said.

The soldiers on site were not injured and were safe, the German news agency dpa reported.

CBS/AP

Air travel across the Middle East had virtually ground to a halt Monday, with several major regional hubs shuttered due to the threat of missile and drone strikes as Iran lashed out in retaliation against Israel and countries deemed to be supporting the war.

Airline shares plunged, with Reuters reporting Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Australia's Qantas Airways down more than 5% and European airline stocks also indicating lower.

Jordanian authorities announced Monday that the country's airspace would be closed from later in the evening "until further notice, in order to ensure the safety and security of civil aviation in Jordanian airspace," according to the country's official news agency.

Oil prices were also surging, putting added pressure on airlines.

Tens of thousands of passengers worldwide saw their travel plans thrown into chaos on the third day of disruptions caused by the war.

Explosions were reported across the Gulf on Monday as Iran continued lashing out with missiles in response to ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes. Blasts were heard in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Doha, Qatar; Bahrain's capital Manama; Kuwait City and in Oman's capital Muscat.

Iran's army said it had used 15 cruise missiles in its latest attacks on a U.S. air base in Kuwait and on vessels in the Indian Ocean.

The unprecedented attacks across the region saw Iran's retaliation spill well beyond military targets and U.S. bases, shattering an image Gulf states have carefully cultivated for decades as islands of calm in a volatile region.

Most of the Iranian missiles and drones are being intercepted, but some have slipped through, hitting civilian areas and causing significant damage, including outside U.S. bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Several U.S. warplanes crashed in Kuwait Monday, but all crew members survived, that country's defense ministry said on social media.

A ministry spokesperson said authorities launched search and rescue operations and evacuated the crews to hospitals, adding that they were in stable condition.

He said the U.S. and Kuwait are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the crashes.

Earlier, the spokesperson said Kuwaiti Air Defense Forces had intercepted several "hostile aerial targets."

Fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait after an Iranian attack on the small Mideast nation on Monday. Video obtained by The Associated Press showed the smoke with an alarm wailing, and a correspondent for French news agency AFP saw smoke rising from the diplomatic mission.

The U.S. had earlier issued an urgent warning to Americans there to take cover and remain indoors. It said: "Do not come to the Embassy. Take cover in your residence on the lowest available floor and away from windows. Do not go outside."

"U.S. Embassy personnel are sheltering in place," it added.

CBS/AP/AFP

Israel has said it's intensifying strikes against the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon following rocket and drone fire blamed on the group. 

In Iraq, Iranian-backed militias have claimed a drone attack targeting U.S. troops at Baghdad's airport.

Britain said a suspected drone strike targeted its military air base in Cyprus on Sunday, and France said it had reinforced its military posture in the eastern Mediterranean.

Some European nations were vowing to support their own interests and their regional allies in the Persian Gulf as they came under attack by Iran. 

Smoke was reportedly seen rising on Sunday from an Iranian strike on the French naval base Camp de la Paix in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The head of the United Nations's nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, said Monday that his agency had "no indication" that any of Iran's nuclear installations had been damaged by the ongoing Israeli-U.S. strikes on the country.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned, however, that with missiles still flying a "possible radiological release with serious consequences" could not be ruled out, calling the situation in the Middle East "very concerning" and urging the "utmost restraint" by all parties. 

"I reiterate my call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation," Grossi said in his statement, released by the IAEA, as he opened the closed-door session.

"Iran and many other countries in the region that have been subjected to military attacks have operational nuclear power plants and nuclear research reactors, as well as associated fuel storage sites, increasing the threat to nuclear safety," he said. "Let me underline that the situation today is very concerning. We cannot rule out a possible radiological release with serious consequences, including the necessity to evacuate areas as large or larger than major cities." 

He said the IAEA was trying to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities, "with no response so far."

The IAEA reported just days ago that, despite U.S. strikes in June that President Trump said "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program, the country still has a stockpile of around 972 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity — a short technical step away from the level required for nuclear weapons. 

Grossi said on Feb. 19 that "most of the material that Iran had accumulated up until June of last year, despite the [U.S.] bombings and the attacks, is still there, in large quantities, where it was at the time of the strikes. … Some of it may be less accessible, but the material is still there."

He called Monday for diplomatic negotiations to resume "as quickly as possible."

CBS/AFP

A total of 555 people have been killed across Iran in the U.S. and Israeli strikes that began Saturday, the Iranian Red Crescent said on the third day of the war.

"Following the Zionist-American terrorist attacks carried out in various regions of our country, 131 cities have been affected to date and, regrettably, 555 of our compatriots have been killed," the humanitarian group said in a post on social media.

The agency did not say how many of the casualties were believed to have been members of Iran's military or security forces.

Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco closed its major refinery in Ras Tanura after a suspected Iranian drone strike, the Reuters news agency quoted an industry source as saying Monday, as Tehran launched missiles and drones at countries across the region deemed to be supportive of the U.S.-Israeli war.

Iranian strikes on ports, cities and U.S. interests in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Manama and Oman have frozen commercial shipping and aviation traffic in vital Mideast waterways and travel hubs, sending Brent crude futures surging roughly 10% on Monday, according to Reuters, which said benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were also up more than 25% in early morning trading.

 U.S. crude prices rose 8.2% to $72.64 per barrel, Reuters said.

Stocks were also hit Monday morning by the war, with markets in Europe and Asia seeing overall share prices slide between 1.5% and just under 2%, including the U.S. S&P 500 futures, which were down 1.5%, according to Reuters. 

The Saudi refinery at Ras Tanura is one of the biggest in the Middle East. The source told Reuters that it was shut as a precaution and the situation was under control, but it was not clear how long operations would be halted.

U.K. foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said Monday that Britain was establishing support systems to help citizens flee the Gulf region, home to an estimated 300,000 Britons, amid Iranian missile strikes.

"We are looking at a wide range of options, working, crucially with the travel industry and with government evacuation if necessary," Cooper told Britain's Sky News.

Asked by Sky if the U.K. might stage government evacuations from some countries, Cooper said: "We're working on every possible option."

"We have to recognize the scale of this as well, and also the fact that there are strikes still under way," she said.