TEHRAN/ TEL AVIV: Fresh volleys of missiles were launched as Iran and Israel continued to battle out each other on Saturday night, the second successive night of the war.
Several missiles were seen over Jerusalem, a witness told Reuters. Air raid sirens were also going off in Haifa. The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran on Saturday, and systems were operating to intercept them. “Upon receiving an alert, the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice,” the IDF said in a statement.
According to Iran’s state TV, Iran’s offensive operation against Israel includes missile and drone strikes. Meanwhile, Iraq on Saturday called on the US to prevent Israeli aircraft from breaching Iraqi airspace to carry out attacks against Iran, citing bilateral agreements and international law, Reuters reported. “The Iraqi government urges the United States to uphold its responsibilities under the agreements signed between the two countries and prevent aircraft belonging to the Zionist entity from once again violating Iraqi airspace,” military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said in a statement.
Also, Oman has announced that the latest Iran-US nuclear talks that were scheduled to be held in Muscat have been canceled. “The Iran US talks scheduled to be held in Muscat this Sunday will not now take place. But diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace,” Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said in a post on X. His Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, earlier said such talks were “unjustifiable” while Israel’s attacks continued.
It was reported that top adviser to supreme leader Ali Khamenei has died in hospital following Israeli attack. Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s top adviser to its supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has died in the hospital a day after Israel launched airstrikes across the country, Iranian media reported.
Moreover, flames erupted at Iran’s South Pars natural gas field — the largest in the world — in what Iranian state media called an Israeli strike.
The closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz was being seriously reviewed by Iran, IRINN reported, citing statements by Esmail Kosari, a member of the parliament’s security commission.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Oman and Iran, is the world’s most important gateway for oil shipping.
Meanwhile, Israel warned Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran keeps targeting its civilians and boasted it now had control of the airspace from western Iran all the way to the capital.
“The Iranian dictator is turning the citizens of Iran into hostages and bringing about a reality in which they — especially the residents of Tehran — will pay a heavy price because of the criminal harm to Israeli civilians,” said Defence Minister Israel Katz.
“If (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles towards the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn.”
The Israeli military said its raids had cleared its path to the capital. “We have created aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran… Tehran is no longer immune,” said spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin.
The Israeli military claimed that its air strikes on Iran had killed more than 20 Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards commanders, including armed forces chief Mohammad Bagheri. “Since the beginning of the operation (on Friday), over 20 commanders in the Iranian regime’s security apparatus have been eliminated,” the military claimed in a statement, naming several top commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the armed forces.
The threat came as Israel and Iran exchanged fire a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign that Iran said hit its nuclear facilities, “martyred” top commanders and killed dozens of civilians.
Overnight, air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters. The Israeli military said three people were killed and 76 injured in Israel since Iran began its attacks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said. Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday.
Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert. “After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.
Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to strike “every target of the Ayatollah regime” in Iran, adding that Israeli strikes had dealt a “real blow” to Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“We will hit every site, every target of the ayatollah regime,” Netanyahu said in a video statement on the second day of Israel’s air campaign targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites.
“We have dealt a real blow to their nuclear programme” since Friday, he added.
“We have opened a path to Tehran. Very soon, you will see Israeli aircraft — our air force, our pilots — in the skies over Tehran,” Netanyahu said, shortly after Israel’s military reported it had struck 40 targets in the Iranian capital overnight, including missiles and advanced air defence systems.
“We are acting with full force to eliminate this dual threat to the State of Israel,” he added, referring to Iran’s nuclear programme and its ballistic missile capabilities.
Speaking to CNN, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.
“We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” Leiter said.
Israel said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired from Iran. AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.
Israel launched the aerial assault early Friday, only days before Iran and the United States had been due to hold a sixth round of talks on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme. The operation — dubbed “Rising Lion” — struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant and assassinated Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, among other senior generals.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had Tehran in its sights after strikes on dozens of missile launchers and air defences. “The way to Iran has been paved,” the military’s chief of staff and air force chief were quoted as saying in a statement.
The military “is proceeding according to its operational plans, and (Israeli air force) fighter jets are set to resume striking targets in Tehran,” it added. Iran has hit back with waves of drone and missile strikes, with a barrage of dozens lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens. Following decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time that Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, with fears of a prolonged conflict engulfing the region.
Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in Friday’s first wave of Israeli strikes. Iranian media reported two Revolutionary Guards killed Saturday in an Israeli strike on a base in the country’s centre.
Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country’s defence as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up.
A report in Iran’s Mehr news agency said the Islamic republic had warned Britain, France and the United States it could retaliate if they came to Israel’s defence.
“Any country that participates in repelling Iranian attacks on Israel will be subject to Iranian forces targeting all regional bases of the complicit government,” it said without citing any officials.
In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion. Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.
Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
The attacks prompted several countries in the region to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday morning, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace.
Iran’s airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported.
As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire. “Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X late Friday.
Pope Leo XIV appealed for Israel and Iran to show “responsibility and reason”.
Asked how long the war would last, Israel’s ambassador to Paris, Joshua Zarka, said: “A small number of weeks.” Prime Minister Netanyahu had said on Friday the strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”.
Meanwhile, Iranian army claimed that its air defence systems hit another Israeli F-35 fighter jet, Al Jazeera reported.
Citing the army’s public relations department, the IRNA news agency reported that the incident occurred in the country’s west. The pilot reportedly ejected from the jet but his current whereabouts remain unknown.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee denied “fake publications by Iranian media outlets that the Iranian military succeeded in shooting down Israeli fighter jets”.
Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan stood resolutely in solidarity with the brotherly people and the government of Iran in the face of Israel’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression. In a telephone conversation with Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, PM Shehbaz strongly condemned the Israeli attacks against Iran, saying that it violated Tehran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, read a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Iran had the right to self-defence, as provided under Article 51 of the UN Charter, he added.
Expressing heartfelt condolences over the loss of precious lives in the attacks, the premier recalled Pakistan’s support to Iran at the UN Security Council’s emergency meeting, held yesterday.
PM Shehbaz denounced Israel’s blatant provocations and adventurism as a grave threat to regional and global peace and stability. He also condemned Israel’s unabated genocidal campaign against the valiant Palestinians, carried out with complete impunity.
He urged the international community and the UN to take urgent and credible steps to put an end to Israel’s aggressive behaviour and its illegal actions. He stated that Pakistan was fully committed to promoting peace in the region and stood ready to play its role in this context.
President Pezeshkian thanked PM Shehbaz for Pakistan’s support and solidarity with Iran at this difficult time, particularly at the UNSC. He said this gesture was reflective of the close and brotherly relations between the two countries.
The Iranian president also apprised the prime minister about Iran’s perspective on the crisis with Israel and urged the international community, particularly the Islamic countries, to work together closely to counter these threats. Both leaders agreed to remain in close contact.
Meanwhile, President Trump said he and President Putin have agreed that Israel-Iran war should end. At the same time, President Putin condemned Israeli strikes on Iran. Also, Shehbaz, Erdogan strongly condemned Israeli aggression in a telephone call.
In a late night development, Geo TV quoting Israeli media said an important Iranian personality was targeted in Tehran by drone. Israeli army spokesman said they don’t want to say their target was Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
