The CIA had been tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for months. That is according to a person familiar with the operation who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity. The intelligence was shared with Israeli officials, and the timing of this weekend’s strikes was adjusted in part because of that information, the person said. The New York Times earlier reported on the CIA’s efforts ahead...

Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj has given a bleak outlook regarding the World Cup in summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada the day after the US and Israel started air attacks against his country. “What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday. “The US regime has attacked our homeland and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.” Iran has been drawn into Group...

Three people were killed, including the alleged gunman, and 14 others were wounded in a shooting early on Sunday at a popular bar in the Texas capital Austin, police said. The gunman was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah”, and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, a law enforcement official told Associated Press. The shooter has been identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, the police official and another person familiar with the matter said. The sources spoke on the...

The US military on Sunday confirmed that three American service members have been killed and five seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury, a joint military assault by the United States and Israel against Iran launched a day earlier. Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are being returned to duty, according to the US Central Command. “Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” the command said in a social media post. Calling the...

Hong Kong’s public airmail services to 24 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia have been affected after a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran forced flight cancellations to two Gulf states and disrupted transit journeys. A Hongkong Post spokesman said on Sunday evening that the department’s airmail services to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were suspended with immediate effect until further notice. “Airmail services transiting through these locations will also be...

China has strongly condemned the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which has left Tehran in turmoil and the Middle East facing a major regional escalation. However, analysts believe that China’s position as Iran’s top oil buyer and trade partner will endure through any political upheaval. They also expect Beijing to adopt a pragmatic approach towards Iran’s next leadership, despite the potential threat to Chinese diplomatic and defence ambitions in the Middle East...

For over a year, Europe has become the world’s geopolitical punching bag, taking economic roundhouses from the east and geopolitical uppercuts from the west without ever swinging back. From US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and covetous glances at Greenland to Beijing’s rare earth embargoes and lightning blockade of semiconductor shipments, Europe’s first response has been to freeze, not fight. But now, it may be ready to counterpunch. After a fresh Trump tariff threat emerged last week, a...