As U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on mainland Iran entered a third day, deaths inside Iran have surpassed 555.
The Iranian Red Crescent said in a statement on the 2nd (local time) that since the joint attacks by the United States and Israel began on the 28th of last month, at least 555 people have been killed and 131 cities have been hit so far. The death list includes Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, and civilian casualties are mounting, including 165 children killed when a girls' elementary school in Hormozgan Province in southern Iran was bombed.
The Red Crescent said rescue operations are underway and, because the figure is a provisional tally excluding the number of injured, the actual number of casualties is expected to rise further.
Iran launched an immediate military response. State TV said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began missile strikes targeting government offices in Tel Aviv, Israel's economic hub, and a military base in Haifa. It also said Iran carried out "retaliatory airstrikes" using drones toward neighboring countries hosting U.S. bases, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait, raising the specter of war spreading across the Middle East.
The Red Crescent is the Islamic counterpart to the Red Cross. According to the Red Crescent, more than 100,000 rescuers nationwide have been deployed in the field on the highest alert, and about 4 million volunteers are on standby to deliver relief supplies and provide psychological support.