Israel under missile attack, Iran says all options open after US strikes

Dubai Eye

3 hours ago

Israel faced a missile attack on Sunday as Iran said it reserved all options to defend itself after unprecedented US strikes that President Donald Trump said had "obliterated" its key nuclear facilities.
Hours after Trump dramatically escalated Middle East tensions by sending B-2 bombers to Iran, the Israeli military warned people to seek cover from a barrage that appeared heavier than the Iranian salvoes fired in the past few days.
"The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences," said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas, calling the US strikes a "grave violation" of the UN charter, international law and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people," Araqchi posted on X.
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said it would not allow development of its 'national industry' to be stopped, and an Iranian state television commentator said every US citizen or military member in the region would be legitimate targets.
Israel's ambulance service said at least 16 people were hurt in the morning barrage.
Air raid sirens sounded across most of the country, sending millions of people to safe rooms and bomb shelters as explosions rang out and missile interceptions were seen above Jerusalem and in other parts of the country.
It was not immediately clear how many missiles had pierced Israel's air defence systems, but police confirmed at least three impact sites in residential areas in central and northern Israel.
Video from Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa further north showed rescue teams combing through debris, apartments reduced to rubble, mangled cars along a street filled with debris and medics evacuating injured people from a row of blown out houses.
Most airlines continued to avoid large parts of the Middle East after the US strikes, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, with traffic already skirting airspace in the region due to recent missile exchanges.
DIPLOMATIC FAILURE
The UN nuclear watchdog said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the US strikes.
Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago. "The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots," he told the channel.
Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries. Israel launched its attacks on June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies.
Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have so far failed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the US strikes a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security".