Iran warns of retaliation as Israeli attacks continue
Iran warns of retaliation as Israeli attacks continue
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances". File photo: AFP
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Saturday of a "more devastating" retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances".
Israel said on Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented offensive, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Tehran's alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon had been set back by two years.
"We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," Saar told the German newspaper Bild, adding that Israel would keep up its onslaught.
Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit.
Later Saturday Iran's Mehr news agency said Israel had launched strikes on the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases.
And early Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that a "vast" wave of "suicide drones" had been launched against "strategic targets" across Israel.
Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme "cannot be taken away... by threats or war". (AFP)
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