The Latest: Iran launches retaliatory strikes on Israel, killing at least 3 people
Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel into Saturday morning, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, after a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran's nuclear program and its armed forces.
Israel's assault used warplanes, as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks.
Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon before the strikes. It also threw talks between the United States and Iran over an atomic accord into disarray days before the two sides were set to meet Sunday.
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Iran's Foreign Ministry calls nuclear talks with US 'meaningless' after Israeli strikes
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday called further nuclear talks with the United States 'meaningless' after Israeli strikes on the country, state television said.
'The U.S. did a job that made the talks become meaningless,' Baghaei was quoted as saying. He added that Israel has passed all Iran's red lines by committing a 'criminal act' through its strikes.
However, he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The Mizan news agency, which is run by Iran's judiciary, quoted him as saying: 'It is still not clear what we decide about Sunday talks.'
Jordan will reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft
Jordan will reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft on Saturday morning, its state-run media reported, signaling the Mideast kingdom believes there is no immediate danger of further attacks.
Jordan's airspace had seen Iranian drones and missiles cross through it, with Israeli fighter jets likely engaging targets there.
The crossfire between Israel and Iran disrupted East-West travel through the Mideast, a key global aviation route.
Woman dies in missile strike in Tel Aviv, hospital says
A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital in Tel Aviv said a woman was killed in an Iranian missile strike, bringing the total number of fatalities in the barrages from Iran to three.
The hospital also treated seven people who were wounded in the strike early Saturday. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said a projectile hit a building in the city.
Israel's paramedic service says 2 people killed when missile hit central Israel
Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom says an Iranian missile struck near homes in central Israel early Saturday morning, killing two people and injuring 19 others. Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged.
UN chief calls for escalation to stop, saying 'peace and diplomacy must prevail'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to halt their attacks on one another, while calling for diplomacy.
'Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,' Guterres wrote on X on Saturday.
Iranian media reports a fire at Tehran's airport
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, posting a video on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport.
A handful of minor injuries reported from second wave of Iranian missiles
Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv said it has treated seven people hurt by the second Iranian barrage; six had light injuries and the seventh was moderately wounded.
Iran fires a second wave of missiles at Israel
Sirens and the boom of explosions, possibly from Israeli interceptors, could be heard in the sky over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Saturday.
AP journalists in Tel Aviv could see what appeared to be at least two Iranian missiles hit the ground, but there was no immediate word of casualties.
The Israeli military said another long-range Iranian missile attack was taking place and urged civilians, already rattled by the first wave of projectiles, to head to shelter. Around three dozen people were wounded by that first wave.
The Iranian outlet Nour News, which has close links with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said a fresh wave was being launched.
Iranian air defenses are firing against Israeli attacks
The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets was echoing across the center of the capital, Tehran, shortly after midnight on Saturday.
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Los Angeles Times
11 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Why some key Tehran allies are staying out of the Israel-Iran conflict
BEIRUT — Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran this week, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet — even though Israel allegedly used Iraq's airspace, in part, to carry out the attacks. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a backseat in the latest round convulsing the region. Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerrilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the ' Axis of Resistance.' The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas. At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. Hezbollah and its leader, Naim Kassem, have condemned Israel's attacks and offered condolences for the senior Iranian officers who were killed. But Kassem did not suggest Hezbollah would take part in any retaliation against Israel. Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia — a separate group from Lebanon's Hezbollah — released a statement saying it was 'deeply regrettable' that Israel allegedly fired at Iran from Iraqi airspace, something that Baghdad complained to the U.N. Security Council over. The Iraqi militia called on the Baghdad government to 'urgently expel hostile forces from the country,' a reference to U.S. troops in Iraq as part of the fight against the militant Islamic State group, but made no threat of force. Hezbollah was weakened by last year's fighting and after losing a major supply route for Iranian weapons with the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally, in a lightning rebel offensive in December. 'Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria,' said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London. Many Hezbollah members believe 'they were sacrificed for Iran's greater regional interests' since Hamas' attack on Israel triggered the latest Israel-Hamas war, and want to focus on 'Lebanon-centric' interests rather than defending Iran, Krieg said. Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said a role for the militant group in the Israel-Iran conflict should not be ruled out. 'This depends on political and field developments,' he said. 'Anything is possible.' Both the Houthis and the Iraqi militias 'lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had,' Krieg said. Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Iraq's Iran-allied militias have all along tried to avoid pulling their country into a major conflict. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military wing has operated as a non-state actor in Lebanon — although its political wing is part of the government — the main Iraqi militias are members of a coalition of groups that are officially part of the state defense forces. 'Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state — they're benefitting politically, economically,' Mansour said. 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New York Post
22 minutes ago
- New York Post
Scott Jennings stranded in Israel as Iranian missiles rain down: ‘Pretty jarring'
Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings is stranded in Israel as the country exchanges airstrikes with Iran. Jennings was in the Jewish State to visit the site of the Oct. 7 attack and report on the Hamas hostages when Iran launched its retaliatory missile attack on Friday night. 'It's pretty jarring. I've seen two rounds of missiles tonight,' Jennings told Jake Tapper at midnight Friday. 5 CNN pundit Scott Jennings is stranded in Israel as the Jewish State exchanges missiles with Iran. ScottJenningsKY/X 'About two seconds after I walked outside, I saw these appear in the sky and then a little while later another barrage came and we saw a number of missiles, we saw a number of intercepts take place as well,' he continued. 'And at that time, we heard air raid sirens, so it was much closer — really right overhead. And at that point, we were shuffled down into a bomb shelter in the bottom of the hotel.' Jennings recorded video of Iran's missile launch from the roof of his hotel on the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, roughly 100 miles north of the attack's target on Tel Aviv. 'Not joking now, please everybody inside,' a man can be heard saying in the background. 5 Jennings was in the Jewish State to visit the site of the Oct. 7 attack and report on the Hamas hostages when Iran launched its retaliatory missile attack on Friday night. ScottJenningsKY/X 5 Damaged buildings are seen above at a site hit by a missile fired from Iran in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on June 14, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Iran reportedly launched around 200 missiles, some of which Israel and the US failed to intercept. At least three people were killed in the attack, including a 73-year-old man. Israel has since shut down its airports indefinitely, leaving Jennings stranded in the country. 5 'About two seconds after I walked outside, I saw these appear in the sky and then a little while later another barrage came and we saw a number of missiles, we saw a number of intercepts take place as well,' Jennings said. ScottJenningsKY/X 5 A destroyed building is pictured at a site in Tel Aviv hit by a missile fired from Iran on June 14, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Iran launched the airstrike in retaliation for Israel's surprise attack earlier in the day, which targeted the country's nuclear plants and killed at least 20 senior Iranian commanders. Both Israel and Iran said their attacks would continue, raising the prospect of another protracted Mideast conflict — with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Israel Escalates Iran Conflict, Striking World's Largest Gas Field: Reports
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Israel has reportedly escalated its ongoing conflict with Iran, striking the world's largest gas field and other energy infrastructure as part of a two-day assault that had otherwise largely targeted sites and personnel tied to the Islamic Republic's armed forces and nuclear program. Iranian semi-official media outlets, including Tasnim News Agency and Fars News Agency, reported on Saturday that an Israeli drone struck Iran's South Pars Gas Field, which is shared with Qatar, where it is known as the North Dome Gas Field. The attack was said to have targeted Phase 14 refineries of the Iranian section, with at least one unit reportedly on fire, leading to a suspension in operations. Footage circulating on news channels and social media appeared to show flames and smoke rising from a section of the complex, which is located in the Kangan area of Iran's south coast Bushehr province. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has yet to confirm the attack. Newsweek has reached out to the IDF for comment. Israeli officials continued to announce operations Saturday in line with what's been dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," a sweeping and unprecedented series of attacks launched late Thursday targeting Iran's nuclear facilities, military infrastructure and senior personnel, including commanders and nuclear scientists. Vowing severe retaliation, Iran commenced a retaliatory "Operation True Promise III" on Friday and fired several waves of missiles and drones against Israel. Iran claims to have severely damaged a number of Israeli military bases, while the IDF has said the majority of incoming attacks have been intercepted. Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Saeed Amir Iravani said Friday that the Israeli strikes had thus far killed 78 people, the majority of them civilians, and injured more than 320. Among the dead are Iranian Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as well as several nuclear scientists. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service director Eli Bin reported Friday that the toll of Iranian attacks on Israel included at least 44 wounded. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
