Israel warns ‘Tehran will burn' as Iran fires drones and missiles in response to Israeli strikes
Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the two countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing a number of top generals.
Israel's military said the strikes had also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks.
Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by 20 months of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded.
Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens.
'If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Israel would welcome the government's overthrow even if it is not actively seeking it.
Israel's strikes also put further talks between the United States and Iran over a nuclear accord into doubt. The U.S. and Iran were scheduled to meet in Oman, on Sunday.
Iran's top diplomat said Saturday that talks with the United States were 'unjustifiable' after Israeli strikes on his country, likely signaling no negotiations this weekend with Washington. However he stopped short of saying the talks were canceled.
The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came when he spoke by phone with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat.
The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes.
Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.'
Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets.
The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded around 70, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders.
The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where the impact occurred. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes.
U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.
In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away.
Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone, it fell apart,' said Moshe Shani.
Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries.
Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice.
Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signaling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city.
An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures.
Overnight, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.
The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, 'in the area of Tehran.'
Israel's ongoing airstrikes and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Israel's 20-month-long war with Gaza shows no signs of ending. At least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza overnight, according to local hospitals.
Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides.
Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air.
Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.
The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.'
Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions near the site.
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said.
Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed.
Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday: Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces' general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations.
On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division. Gen. Majid Mousavi will replace Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in Friday's airstrike. The Guard's aerospace division oversees Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.'
'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,' he wrote.
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