Iran says 14 dead in US strikes as war breaks out ahead of Khamenei's burial

The area around the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was hit by US fire on Thursday, according to Iran's IRNA news agency, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr Province.

Ehsan Jahangirian told IRNA that the continued US airstrikes have hit many areas in Bushehr province, including the area around the nuclear plant, the Choghaddak military base and a fishing area in the south of the coastal province.

He said that so far no victims have been reported as a result of the strikes in this area, but the Ministry of Health in Iran previously said that 14 people have been killed in two days of American strikes in the south of the country.

Jahangirian said the Benoud fishing village in Asaluyeh, Bushehr province, was targeted, resulting in the fishing boats of local residents being set on fire. He said emergency teams are in the affected areas and work is ongoing to assess the extent of the damage and find the target areas.

President Trump said US strikes would target small boats used by the Iranian military to lay sea mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz. US military Central Command said Wednesday evening that the latest attack hit about 90 Iranian targets, including air defense, drone and missile storage, naval targets and transport infrastructure on the coast of Iran.

A plane carrying the coffin of the late Ali Khamenei arrived in the eastern holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, ahead of his funeral, state media reported.

The official news agency, IRNA, broadcast a video of a Mahan Air plane taxiing at the airport after landing in Khamenei's hometown. He was evacuated from Iraq, where there were celebrations in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Video released by state media, not independently verified by CBS News, showed the plane being escorted by at least one Iranian fighter jet.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday that overnight US strikes hit two bridges on the route to Mashhad.

Khamenei was killed by US or Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, the first day of the war. The week-long funeral period, culminating in Khamenei's burial on Thursday, was supposed to be a time to ease tensions and dialogue.

US airstrikes in Iran over the past two days have killed at least 14 people and injured 78 others, Iran's Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Hossein Kermanpour, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, reported this on social media. It was the first death toll from the strikes released by the Iranian government.

In Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people died on Thursday, state media reported. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at the airport.

The attacks followed at least nine members of Iran's armed forces killed in Wednesday's strikes in Iran. It was not clear when the other person died and who was killed.

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran “made a phone call a short time ago,” saying the Tehran regime wanted to “make a bad deal.”

Mr. Trump, on his way back to the US after visiting NATO meeting in Turkey, he said he did not know if Iran “is fit to make a deal. I don't know if they will honor the deal.”

When the reporter followed up by asking Mr. Trump on why Iran launched an attack on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, the president responded, “Because they're kind of crazy, to be honest with you. They're like crazy. They're a little out of control. But they want to make a deal, badly.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he believed the 60-day ceasefire reached with Iran in mid-June was “over,” but he would allow peace talks to continue.

Since Iran is attacking tanks, the US has started two rounds of retaliatory strikes in the country, the Pentagon says it controls its military infrastructure.

President Trump called Wednesday's strikes on Iran “retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran,” referring to three oil tankers attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Tuesday.

“If it happens again, it will be worse!” the president warned in a Truth Social post.

Mr. Trump also posted several untimely videos of the night's explosions.

Iranian state television reported explosions in several cities after the US announced it had launched a second night of strikes on Iran.

The official Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said explosions were reported in the southern port cities of Chabahar and Konarak, as well as the western Gulf port city of Bushehr.

Bushehr is an important city because it contains the only nuclear power plant in Iran. It is also located near the island of Kharg, an important oil export center for Iran.

Vice President JD Vance echoed many of the points made throughout the day by President Trump during his speech in Milwaukee, saying that since Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the US had no choice but to respond militarily.

“They behaved well for about a week. But then they started shooting at the ships,” said Vance. “So the deal is pretty simple, if they shoot at the ships, we'll get the hell out of them. And that's easy.”

Vance, who was involved in de-escalation talks with Iran during a 60-day pause outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran last month, repeatedly cast the choice as an easy one.

“If they try to shut it down, there will be a response from the US military. It's that simple. That's the deal,” said Vance, who was in Wisconsin at an event focused on stopping fraud. “They can follow it or they can have exactly what happened to them last night.”

He continued, “It will continue until they open this route and stop shooting at the ships. It's easy.”