Israel-Iran conflict: what we know
Israel targeted Iran's air defence capabilities on Saturday, pressing on with a massive wave of strikes it began a day earlier that targeted Iranian nuclear and military facilities, prompting counterattacks by Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to hit "every target of the ayatollah regime", adding: "What they have felt so far is nothing."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, warned the continued "aggression will be met with a more severe and powerful response".
The first wave of Israeli strikes killed 78 people and wounded 320, according to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.
The Israeli military said three people were killed and 76 wounded since Iran began its retaliatory attacks.
International calls for restraint have multiplied as fears grow that the Middle East could be on the threshold of a broader conflict.
Here is what we know:
- Targeting air defences -
On Saturday, Israel's military said it was attacking dozens of missile launchers in Iran after announcing it had targeted air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area.
Iranian media also reported a "massive explosion" on Saturday after an Israeli drone strike on a refinery in the southern city of Kangan.
The air campaign, which has targeted surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Iran, has given Israel "aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran", Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told journalists.
Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that "Tehran will burn" if Iran kept targeting Israeli civilians.
- Iran's response -
Israel said dozens of missiles -- some of which were intercepted -- had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran.
AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.
- Nuclear talks -
The fiercest ever exchange of fire between the arch foes came amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington seeking to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear programme.
Before the Israeli strikes, the two sides had been set to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday.
But Iran said it would be "meaningless" to attend the talks while it was under attack by Israel, and Oman confirmed Sunday's talks had been called off.
Tehran has consistently denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, but had been enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 agreement with major powers that the United States and Iran have since largely abandoned.
However, that is still short of the 90-percent enrichment threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.
- More Iranian generals killed -
The Israeli military said on Saturday its air strikes had killed more than 20 Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that General Gholamreza Mehrabi, deputy head of intelligence of the armed forces general staff, and General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy head of operations, had been killed.
On Friday, other members of the top brass reported killed included the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, and armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, with replacements swiftly named by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Revolutionary Guards said its aerospace commander Amirali Hajizadeh was also killed. He was in charge of Iran's ballistic missile arsenal.
Iranian media said on Saturday that three more nuclear scientists were killed, bringing the total to nine -- a toll that Israel also reported.
- Nuclear sites hit -
Israel's attacks started in the early hours of Friday, a day of rest and prayer in Iran, and continued through the day at various sites.
One key target was a vast underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, which Israel hit several times, according to Iranian state television.
Israel said another strike later Friday on an Iranian plant in Isfahan damaged infrastructure for reconverting enriched uranium.
Netanyahu said Israel's strikes had dealt a "real blow" to Iran's nuclear programme.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
2 hours ago
- eNCA
Iran launches missile barrage as Israel strikes Tehran
IRAN - Iranians and Israelis woke to smoke and rubble on Sunday after the arch-rivals expanded their attacks overnight, with Israel striking Tehran's defence ministry, and Iran unleashing a deadly barrage of missiles. Air raid sirens and explosions were heard by AFP journalists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Sunday, as Israel's military said millions of Israelis were "running for shelter" around the country. Israel's emergency services said at least eight people, including children, were killed in the overnight strikes, and around 200 were wounded. In Iran's capital, AFP journalists heard a series of blasts at around 2:30 am. The third day of tit-for-tat attacks comes despite global calls for de-escalation, with Iran scrapping its latest nuclear talks with the United States, saying it could not negotiate while under fire from Israel. After decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East. Iranian Red Crescent/AFP | - Israel's operation, which began early Friday, has targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing dozens of people including top army commanders and atomic scientists, according to Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to hit "every target of the ayatollah regime", while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned further strikes would draw "a more severe and powerful response". In Bat Yam, outside of Tel Aviv, Israeli first responders wearing helmets and headlamps combed through the rubble of a building as dawn broke. Two women, aged 69 and 80, a girl and a 10-year-old boy were killed, while about 100 others were wounded, according to a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA). In Shfela region, west of Jerusalem, another 37 people were wounded, the MDA spokesperson added. In the north of Israel, in the Western Galilee, rescuers said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building, killing three women. A woman in her 20s also died after an Iranian missile hit a home in the Haifa region, leaving about a dozen people wounded, MDA said. An MDA spokesman told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that around 200 people were wounded in the overnight missile strikes fired by Iran. Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in Friday's first wave of Israeli strikes. Iranian authorities have not provided an updated toll as of early Sunday. - 'Nuclear project' sites struck - Israel's military said it had struck Iran's defence ministry headquarters, "nuclear weapons project" infrastructure sites and other targets, including fuel tankers, just before 2:40 am on Sunday (2340 GMT Saturday). AFP | Jack GUEZ The targeted sites, including the "headquarters of the SPND (Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research) nuclear project", advanced Iran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon, according to Israel. Iranian news agency Tasnim earlier reported that an Israeli strike had targeted the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran and damaged one of its buildings. The ministry did not comment. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country had struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, in retaliation for the strikes carried out by Israel. "The Iranian armed forces' offensive operations will continue more fiercely and more broadly if the depravity and attacks (against Iran) continue," the Guards said in a statement. Overnight, Israel stuck two fuel depots in Tehran, the Iranian oil ministry said Sunday. According to the ministry, the oil depots at Shahran northwest of Tehran and another reservoir south of the city were hit. An AFP journalist saw a depot at Shahran on fire. - Foreign concern - Netanyahu maintained Israel's operation had the "clear support" of US President Donald Trump. Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in a phone call on Saturday that the conflict between Iran and Israel "should end". AFP | Valentina BRESCHI, Sylvie HUSSON According to a statement from his office, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Washington's "dishonesty" for supporting Israel while engaged in nuclear talks with Iran - which mediator Oman said would no longer take place on Sunday. Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it denies. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said the Israeli attacks undermined negotiations and were pushing the region into a "dangerous cycle of violence". Israeli strikes have hit Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant and killed its highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. The Israeli military said its strikes had killed more than 20 Iranian commanders. Iranian media reported five Guards killed Saturday in Israeli strikes, while authorities in one northwestern province said 30 military personnel had been killed there since Friday. AFP | Oren ZIV Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country's defence, while Netanyahu urged them to rise up against the government. Highlighting the global unease, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against a "devastating war" with regional consequences, in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ankara said. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that his country was deploying fighter jets and other "assets" to the Middle East "for contingency support", while he also urged de-escalation.
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Trump flexes military might at parade as protests sweep US
USA - President Donald Trump hosted the largest US military parade in decades on his 79th birthday on Saturday, as protesters rallied across the country to accuse him of acting like a dictator. Trump hailed the United States as the "hottest country in the world" after watching tanks, aircraft and troops file past him in Washington to honour the 250th anniversary of the US army. But it formed a stark split screen with turmoil at home and abroad, as police used teargas to disperse protesters in Los Angeles and US ally Israel traded missile fire with Iran in a rapidly escalating conflict in the Middle East. Trump's parade on an overcast night in Washington came after hundreds of thousands of "No Kings" demonstrators thronged the streets in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta. AFP | RONALDO SCHEMIDT Trump largely avoided his usual domestic political diatribes in an unusually brief speech, and instead focused on praising the US army, saying that they "fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win." The display of military might comes as Trump asserts his power domestically and on the international stage. In his address to the parade, Trump sent a warning to Washington's adversaries of "total and complete" defeat, with the United States increasingly at risk of getting tangled up in Israel's conflict with Iran. "Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you," Trump said. - 'Happy Birthday' - Trump had openly dreamed since his first term as president of having a grand military parade, of the type more often seen in Moscow or Pyongyang than Washington. AFP | Mandel NGAN The last such parade in the United States was at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. When it came, Trump stood and saluted on a stage outside the White House as tanks rumbled past, aircraft roared overhead and nearly 7,000 troops marched past. Troops and military hardware from different eras of US history passed by, with an announcer reeling off victories in battles with Japanese, German, Chinese and Vietnamese forces in past wars. The army said the parade cost up to $45 million. But while the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" and there were occasional chants of "USA! USA!", the atmosphere was less intense than one of the barnstorming rallies that swept Trump to power. The White House said that "over 250,000 patriots showed up" for the event, without providing evidence. Communications Director Steven Cheung described the "No Kings" protests as a "complete and utter failure." AFP | CHARLY TRIBALLEAU "No Kings" organisers said protesters gathered in hundreds of cities, with AFP journalists seeing large crowds in several cities. Organisers said they were protesting against Trump's dictatorial overreach, and in particular what they described as the strongman symbolism of the parade. "I think people are mad as hell," Lindsay Ross, a 28-year-old musician, told AFP in New York, where tens of thousands of people rallied. Some protesters targeted Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida -- while a small group even gathered in Paris. "I think it's disgusting," protester Sarah Hargrave, 42, said in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, describing Trump's parade as a "display of authoritarianism." - 'Display of authoritarianism' - Thousands turned out in Los Angeles to protest Trump's deployment of troops in the country's second-largest city following clashes sparked by immigration raids. AFP | Amid FARAHI After a day of largely peaceful protests, police unexpectedly began moving people away from the protest area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go. Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew. A police spokeswoman said a "small group of agitators" had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to order the crowd to disperse. If people refused to leave, "we will make arrests," she said, adding: "We have been patient all day." Violence shattered the calm elsewhere, too, with a shooting at a demonstration in the western US city of Salt Lake City leaving at least one person critically injured, according to police. AFP | JEFF KOWALSKY The killing of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband Saturday in the northern state of Minnesota - in what the governor called a targeted attack - also cast a pall over the parade. Trump was quick to condemn the attacks outside Minneapolis in which former state speaker Melissa Hortman was killed along with her husband, while another state lawmaker and his wife were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.
eNCA
11 hours ago
- eNCA
US protesters hit streets before Trump's military parade
Thousands of people on Saturday rallied nationwide against the policies of US President Donald Trump ahead of a rare military parade on his 79th birthday -- but the killing of a Democratic lawmaker in Minnesota cast a pall over the day's events. Trump was quick to condemn the targeted shootings of two lawmakers outside Minneapolis -- one died along with her husband, while the other and his wife have been hospitalized with gunshot wounds. The shocking murder was the latest in a string of incidents of political violence, including an attempt on Trump's life in July last year, and an April arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania's governor, who is a Democrat and Jewish. The shootings prompted Minnesota state authorities to call on residents not to attend protests by the so-called "No Kings" movement organized across the United State, which began at noon (1600 GMT) in some East Coast locations. Organizers said the rallies would be the largest since Trump returned to office in January, adding that they were "rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy." "I'm here because the things that are happening in this administration are very disturbing," Sarah Hargrave, 42, told AFP in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, where about 1,000 people rallied. AFP | Thomas SAMSON Organizers said they expected millions of people in more than 1,500 cities including New York, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta and Trump's second home in Palm Beach, Florida to protest. A small group even gathered in Paris. Thousands hit the streets in Philadelphia, one of the movement's flagship events. Thousands more demonstrators are expected to turn out in Los Angeles to protest against Trump's deployment of troops in America's second-largest city following clashes sparked by immigration raids. Downtown, Trump planned a giant celebration of the US Army's 250th birthday -- and his own -- in Washington with tanks, helicopters and nearly 7,000 troops at a reported cost of up to $45 million. "This is a big day for America!!!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform. But the Minnesota shootings, the threat of thunderstorms in the US capital, and the barrage of missiles raining down in Tel Aviv and Tehran -- a conflict in which the American military is assisting -- could cast a long shadow over the president's event. - Rain on Trump's parade? - AFP | SAUL LOEB Trump says the Washington parade will be "like no other" -- but has promised to use "very big force" if protesters attempt to disrupt the spectacle. The rare military parade is the largest in the United States since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Soldiers will wear uniforms dating back through US history to its independence from Britain. More than 50 helicopters will be involved including Apache gunships and Black Hawk transport choppers. Around 150 military vehicles -- including 28 Abrams battle tanks and 56 armored vehicles -- will rumble past. The parade is meant to end with a parachute display as members of the army's Golden Knights team jump in and present Trump with a US flag -- on Flag Day, which marks the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. AFP | Amid FARAHI The route will pass historic landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, ending up near the White House. But thunderstorms could hit Washington on Saturday when the parade is taking place. Trump put a brave face on the forecast Saturday, saying on Truth Social: "Our great military parade is on, rain or shine. Remember, a rainy day parade brings good luck. I'll see you all in DC." - 'Vulgar display' - AFP | Mandel NGAN Trump has been obsessed with having a parade since his first term as president when he attended France's annual Bastille Day parade in Paris at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. But Trump's opponents accuse him of using the event to feed his ego. "No Kings" organizers said they expected millions of people in more than 1,500 cities to take part in the protests. They said it was a "direct response to Donald Trump's self-aggrandizing" parade, "funded by taxpayers while millions are told there's no money." An NBC News poll published Saturday revealed that nearly two in three Americans surveyed -- 64 percent -- oppose using government funds for the military parade. California's Governor Gavin Newsom, who slammed Trump for sending National Guard troops into Los Angeles without his consent, said it was a "vulgar display of weakness." "To fete the Dear Leader on his birthday? What an embarrassment," Newsom, a Democrat, said Thursday, likening the display to a military parade in Kim Jong Un's North Korea.
