Iran fires missiles with cluster bombs as conflict with Israel enters day eight
As the Israel-Iran conflict enters its eighth day, both countries traded barrages of missiles and drones on Friday. Israel bombed nuclear infrastructure in Iran. Tehran retaliated by firing missiles armed with cluster munitions, marking the first reported use of such weapons in the ongoing conflict, including a strike that damaged an Israeli hospital. The exchange marks a sharp escalation in a week-long air war with no clear signs of de-escalation or a diplomatic off-ramp.advertisementIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Iran's leadership would pay the full price for the hospital strike. He added Israel is ahead of schedule in its military campaign against Iran, exceeding prior expectations.Meanwhile, the White House said US President Donald Trump will decide within two weeks whether the US will back Israel militarily. This comes as the White House said definitively that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in "a couple of weeks" once given the go-ahead from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Behind the scenes, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff has reportedly held several phone conversations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.TOP DEVELOPMENTS IN ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) continued strikes on Iran's military and nuclear sites, targeting infrastructure linked to Iran's nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel is ahead of schedule in its military campaign against Iran. He said Israel has the capability to target all of Iran's nuclear facilities, including the heavily fortified Fordo site.
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Iran also launched barrages of drones and missiles targeting Israel. The Israeli military on Thursday accused Iran of firing a missile armed with cluster munitions, marking the first reported use of such weapons in the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
Earlier, Iran hit a medical building in southern Israel, causing extensive damage. Israel's Health Ministry said 71 people were wounded in the attack, most of them suffering light injuries or panic attacks as they rushed for shelter.
The White House also said that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a couple of weeks if approved by Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Earlier, the White House said that President Donald Trump will make a decision within the next two weeks on whether to launch a military strike against Iran. The announcement comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Israel-Iran conflict.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, quoted message from Trump, "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."
Iran has appointed a new head of intelligence at its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), days after Israeli strikes killed his predecessor. According to the Iranian state media, Brigadier General Majid Khadami has been named as the new intelligence chief by IRGC commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour. He succeeds Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday along with two other Revolutionary Guards officers, Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri, in an Israeli strike.
Amid escalating tensions, nearly 40 US military aircraft have disappeared from the tarmac at a major American airbase in Qatar over the past two weeks, in what appears to be a preemptive move to shield US assets from potential Iranian strikes.
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Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces his greatest test: Things to know about Iran's Supreme Leader
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who crushed internal threats repeatedly during more than three decades in power, now faces his greatest challenge yet. His archenemy, Israel, has secured free rein over Iran's skies and is decimating the country's military leadership and nuclear program with its punishing air campaign. It is also threatening his life: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei 'cannot continue to exist.' The 86-year-old leader faces a choice. He could escalate Iran's retaliation against Israel and risk even heavier damage from Israel's bombardment. Or he could seek a diplomatic solution that keeps the US out of the conflict, and risk having to give up the nuclear program he has put at the center of Iranian policy for years. In a video address Wednesday he sounded defiant, vowing 'the Iranian nation is not one to surrender' and warning that if the US steps in, it will bring 'irreparable damage to them.' When he rose to power in 1989, Khamenei had to overcome deep doubts about his authority as he succeeded the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. A low-level cleric at the time, Khamenei didn't have his predecessor's religious credentials. With his thick glasses and plodding style, he didn't have his fiery charisma either. But Khamenei has ruled three times longer than the late Khomeini and has shaped Iran's Islamic Republic perhaps even more dramatically. He entrenched the system of rule by the 'mullahs," or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hardliners as the unquestionable authority — below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran's military and internal politics. The Guard boasts Iran's most elite military and oversees its ballistic missile program. Its international arm, the Quds Force, pieced together the 'Axis of Resistance,' the collection of pro-Iranian proxies stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave Iran considerable power across the region. Khamenei also gave the Guard a free hand to build a network of businesses allowing it to dominate Iran's economy. In return, the Guard became his loyal shock force. The first major threat to Khamenei's grip was the reform movement that swept into a parliament majority and the presidency soon after he became supreme leader. The movement advocated for giving greater power to elected officials – something Khamenei's hardline supporters feared would lead to dismantling the Islamic Republic system. Khamenei stymied the reformists by rallying the clerical establishment. Unelected bodies run by the mullahs succeeded in shutting down major reforms and barring reform candidates from running in elections. The Revolutionary Guard and Iran's other security agencies crushed waves of protests that followed the failure of the reform movement. Huge nationwide protests erupted in 2009 over allegations of vote-rigging. Under the weight of sanctions, economic protests broke out in 2017 and 2019. More nationwide protests broke out in 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini after police detained her for not wearing her mandatory headscarf properly. Hundreds were killed in crackdowns on the protests, and hundreds more arrested amid reports of detainees tortured to death or raped in prison. Still, the successive protests showed the strains in Iran's theocratic system and lay bare widespread resentment of clerical rule, corruption and economic troubles. Trying to defuse anger, authorities often eased enforcement of some of the Islamic Republic's social restrictions. When Khamenei took power, Iran was just emerging from its long war with Iraq that left the country battered and isolated. Over the next three decades, Khamenei turned Iran around into as assertive power wielding influence across the Middle East. One major boost was the US's 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, which eventually brought Iranian-allied Shiite politicians and militias to power in Iraq. Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel brought a massive Israeli retaliation on the Gaza Strip. It also brought a turnaround in Israeli policy. After years of trying to fend off and tamp down Iran's allies, Israel made crushing them it's goal. Hamas has been crippled, though not eliminated, even at the cost of the decimation of Gaza. Israel has similarly sidelined Hezbollah — at least for the moment — with weeks of bombardment in Lebanon last year, along with a dramatic attack with booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies that stunned the group. An even heavier blow to Hezbollah was the fall in December of Syria's Bashar Assad when Sunni rebels marched on the capital and removed him from power. Now, a government hostile to Iran and Hezbollah rules from Damascus. Iran's Axis of Resistance is at its lowest ebb ever.
Hindustan Times
37 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Iran fires cluster bombs at Israel as conflict enters 8th day: Death toll mounts, no diplomatic breakthrough
Iran launched a missile carrying cluster submunitions into central Israel on Thursday, in what Israeli officials say marks the first use of such weapons in the eight-days at war. The Iranian missile reportedly scattered dozens of bomblets over civilian areas to maximise the chance of damage inflicted on the enemy side. "Today, the Iranian Armed Forces fired a missile that contained cluster submunitions at a densely populated civilian area in Israel," the Israeli embassy in Washington said in a statement to Reuters. The attack came amid a fresh wave of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel on Friday. According to Israeli media reports, the missile's warhead detonated at an altitude of around 7 kilometers, releasing approximately 20 submunitions over a radius of 8 kilometers in central Israel. Iranian officials have not commented on the allegations. Follow Israel Iran war live. Israeli authorities said on Thursday that the body of a woman was recovered from a building hit by an Iranian missile four days earlier, raising Israel's death toll to 25 since the war began, according to AFP. Iran, meanwhile, has reported at least 224 deaths from Israeli strikes as of Sunday. The killed individuals include top military officials, nuclear scientists, and civilians. However, Tehran has not given an updates figure since. European diplomats convened in Geneva with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday in a last-ditch effort to prevent further escalation. Foreign ministers from France, Germany, the UK, and the EU urged restraint and diplomacy. British foreign secretary David Lammy emphasised the urgency, saying the coming two weeks represent 'a window... to achieve a diplomatic solution.' The UN Security Council is also expected to hold a second emergency session on the conflict, following a request from Iran backed by Russia, China, and Pakistan, diplomats confirmed. Back in Washington, President Donald Trump, said he would decide 'within the next two weeks' whether to back Israeli military action. 'There is still a substantial chance of a negotiated end to this,' Trump was quoted by AFP, as saying. The Wall Street Journal reported that while he has approved strike plans, he is waiting to see whether Iran shows willingness to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Meanwhile, Russia warned that any American involvement 'would be an extremely dangerous step.' Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq also threatened retaliation. Satellite imagery on Thursday revealed that several US military aircraft had been relocated from a base in Qatar. Iran, still reeling from last week's loss of senior officials, has appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as the new head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards' intelligence division, the state-run IRNA reported on Thursday. He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that also claimed the lives of commanders Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran would pay a 'heavy price' after Iran's missile barrage hit Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The 1000-bed hospital's director Shlomi Codish said 40 people were injured, and the facility was left in flames. However, Tehran claimed the hospital was not the intended target; instead, it said the nearby military and intelligence base was the primary objective. This came as the Israeli military announced overnight strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, including an 'inactive nuclear reactor' in Arak and the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. A military spokesperson said the operation aimed to 'prevent the reactor from being restored.' (With AFP, Reuters, AP inputs)
Hans India
37 minutes ago
- Hans India
Trump Weighs Response to Iran, Decision Expected in Coming Weeks
Trump Middle East updates: President Trump said on Thursday he would decide within two weeks whether the United States would Trump on Iran strike, shifting from earlier remarks that suggested the Trump Iran attack decision could come soon and opening the possibility for new talks on Iran's nuclear program. The latest Iranian missile salvo hit a residential street in a city in southern Israel, the emergency services in Israel announced. The missile left a large crater in the street, blowing out balconies on several apartment buildings and setting a number of cars on fire, pictures and video released by the police and Magen David Adom, Israel's main ambulance service, showed. In a phone interview with Sky News published early on Friday, the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said talk of regime change in Iran was 'unimaginable' and 'even talking about it should be unacceptable.' If Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, were killed, which both Israel and U.S. leaders have alluded to in recent days that would only lead to extremism in Iran he said. He did not say how or if Russia would react. Peskov also warned against escalation and Iran US conflict 2025 involvement, which he said would make the situation more dangerous if there were more players. Britain's foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the situation with Iran remained 'perilous' after a meeting he held on Thursday at the White House with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy for the Middle East. 'A window now exists within the next two weeks to deliver a diplomatic solution,' Lammy said, a reference to a timeline announced by Trump earlier on Thursday. Lammy made it clear in his written statement before the meeting that Iran should not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. 'Tomorrow I will be going to Geneva to meet the Iranian Foreign Minister together with my French, German and EU counterparts,' he said.
