It is astonishing what can happen in a week.

It was sunrise Saturday in Tehran when the U.S. and Israel launched the first strikes of a war that over the past seven days have spread throughout and now beyond the Middle East.

Over the course of the first 24 hours of the operation, the two countries struck more than

a thousand targets, the most significant said President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu, a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The hour of your freedom is at hand.

Stay sheltered.

Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside.

Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be

yours to take. Your suffering and your sacrifice will not be in vain. We promised you the help,

and the help has arrived.

We even saw one of the explosions from our office window around downtown to Iran.

This engineer is one of many we talked to in Iran this week, who asked NPR not to use his

name for fear of government retribution. Suddenly, we heard cheers from our neighbors. And to be honest with

you, the moment I heard the cheers, I knew what had happened. Iran's foreign ministry called the

a gross violation of its national sovereignty and vowed to respond decisively. They struck back,

firing drones and missiles at U.S. bases in the

United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, where the strikes killed six American service members.

On Monday, Iran continued attacks on targets as far afield as Cyprus and the Mediterranean,

and Iran backed Hezbollah and Lebanon launched its own attacks on Israel, its first in more than a year.

To Iranian drones damaged the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia on Monday. And the day after, an Iranian drone targeted the U.S. consulate in Dubai.

Hundreds more targeted U.S. troops in Iraq and elsewhere, and President Trump warned of more casualties.

...