Khamenei vows Iran will never surrender
TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday the nation would never surrender and warned the United States of "irreparable damage" if it intervenes, while Israel said it had destroyed the internal security headquarters in Tehran.
Khamenei's speech came six days into the conflict, with Trump saying he may or may not intervene in the conflict, while demanding Iran's "unconditional surrender".
The long-range blitz began Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.
"This nation will never surrender," Khamenei said in a speech, in which he called Trump's ultimatum "unacceptable".
"America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage," he said.
Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state in Iran, had earlier vowed the country would show "no mercy" towards Israel's leaders.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said air force jets had destroyed Iran's internal security headquarters after the army announced it was striking military targets in Tehran.
"Air Force jets have just destroyed the internal security headquarters of the Iranian regime -- the main arm of repression of the Iranian dictator," Katz said in a statement, vowing to "strike symbols of governance and hit the Ayatollah regime wherever it may be".
Earlier, Israeli attacks destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme near Tehran, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
"More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets... carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours," the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities and a centrifuge production site were hit.
Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.
The strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
In another strike on a site in Tehran, "one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested", the agency added in a post on X.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles at Tel Aviv.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
No missile struck Tel Aviv overnight, though AFP photos showed Israel's air defence systems activated to intercept missiles over the commercial hub.
US INTERVENTION?
Trump has fuelled speculation about US intervention, telling reporters on Tuesday: "I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."
A day earlier, he boasted that the United States could assassinate Khamenei.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there -- We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
US officials have stressed Trump has not yet made a decision about any intervention.
Israel's attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas.
Finding fuel has become a problem in Iran, with long queues of cars waiting hours in front of petrol stations, a 40-year-old Iranian driver told AFP at the Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh.
"There are shortages of rice, bread, sugar and tea," said Fatah, who spoke to AFP using a pseudonym.
"People are shocked and distraught, they don't know what they should do," car dealer Shwan said via a messaging app.
Residential areas in Israel have also been hit, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries.
Some Israelis stranded abroad since last week decided to return home, however.
"I decided to come back because the family is here, and I belong here, and unfortunately we get used to these fights and war, but we prefer to be here, to support as much as we can," said Yaakov Bogen, a 66-year-old hotelier.
Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, Netanyahu's office said on Monday.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.
Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran denies.
Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate with the United States while under attack. - AFP
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