Alert: Iran and Israel say a new wave of Iranian missile attacks has begun, with explosions heard over Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran and Israel say a new wave of Iranian missile attacks has begun, with explosions heard over Jerusalem.
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel Warns 'Tehran Will Burn' Amid Deadly Missile Strikes
Israeli search and rescue teams conduct operations amid the rubble of a destroyed building after Iranian strikes in Rishon LeZion, Israel, on June 14, 2025. Credit - Mostafa Alkharouf—Getty Images After striking back on Friday night, Iran launched a new wave of strikes toward Israel on Saturday morning, as the two countries continue to exchange deadly missiles. Iran followed through on its vow to retaliate after Israel carried out a 'precise and integrated preemptive strike' against Iranian nuclear facilities, targeting military personnel and scientists. Now, as the attacks escalate, and with fatalities and injuries reported on both sides, Israel has issued a stark warning to Iran. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday morning threatened severe consequences if Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doesn't retreat. 'If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn,' Katz said, after a meeting with leaders of the Israeli military. 'The Iranian dictator is turning Iran's citizens into hostages and creating a reality in which they, especially the residents of Tehran, will pay a heavy price for the criminal attacks on Israeli civilians.' Read More: Israel Gets the War It Wanted The warning comes after Israel reported that at least three people had died and dozens have been injured after Iranian strikes rained down on Tel Aviv and nearby cities. Meanwhile, Iran's U.N. Ambassador reported that over 70 people have been killed and over 300 wounded as a result of the Israeli strikes. The escalation of traded strikes has raised concerns for civilians on both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the 'esteemed people of Iran' directly in a filmed statement on Friday night. 'We are in the midst of one of the largest military operations in history. The Islamic regime that has oppressed you for almost 50 years threatens to destroy our country, Israel,' Netanyahu said. 'The goal of Israel's operation is to prevent the Islamic regime's nuclear and ballistic missile threats.' 'While we achieve our goal, we also pave the way for you to achieve your freedom,' he continued. 'In the past 24 hours, we have destroyed senior military commanders, prominent nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime's most important enrichment facility, and a large part of its ballistic missile arsenal. Another operation is underway' Netanyahu went on to say that the regime in Iran has 'never been so weak' and urged Iranians to use the opportunity to 'stand up' and make their voices heard. Read More: Here Are the Top Iranian Generals and Scientists Targeted and Killed by Israeli Strikes Israel's initial strikes on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning, local time, came amid long-time concerns as to the progression of the country's nuclear capabilities. The United States has been engaged in ongoing talks with Iran, in an effort to make a nuclear deal. Another round of talks between the U.S. and Iran was set to take place in the Sultanate of Oman's capital of Muscat on Sunday, but it remains to be seen if those will go ahead. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Saturday called nuclear talks with the U.S. 'meaningless,' according to state television, amid the current situation with Israel. Read More: Trump Issues Grave Warning to Iran After Israeli Strikes: 'No More Death, No More Destruction' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke out shortly after Israel launched its operative strikes against Iran, announcing that the U.S. were not participants in the military action. 'Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran… Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,' the statement read. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Friday issued a grave warning of his own to Iran, urging them to make a nuclear deal before the combat escalated further, which it since has. Detailing how he has long sought to make an agreement with Iran, Trump said: "I told them, in the strongest of words, to 'just do it,' but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done… Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse." Write to Olivia-Anne Cleary at
Politico
10 minutes ago
- Politico
Israel warns ‘Tehran will burn' as Iran fires drones and missiles in response to Israeli strikes
Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the two countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing a number of top generals. Israel's military said the strikes had also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks. Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by 20 months of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded. Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. 'If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Israel would welcome the government's overthrow even if it is not actively seeking it. Israel's strikes also put further talks between the United States and Iran over a nuclear accord into doubt. The U.S. and Iran were scheduled to meet in Oman, on Sunday. Iran's top diplomat said Saturday that talks with the United States were 'unjustifiable' after Israeli strikes on his country, likely signaling no negotiations this weekend with Washington. However he stopped short of saying the talks were canceled. The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came when he spoke by phone with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat. The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes. Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded around 70, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders. The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where the impact occurred. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes. U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone, it fell apart,' said Moshe Shani. Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signaling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures. Overnight, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, 'in the area of Tehran.' Israel's ongoing airstrikes and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Israel's 20-month-long war with Gaza shows no signs of ending. At least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza overnight, according to local hospitals. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides. Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.' Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions near the site. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday: Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces' general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division. Gen. Majid Mousavi will replace Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in Friday's airstrike. The Guard's aerospace division oversees Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles. Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.' 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,' he wrote.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Keir Starmer reiterates need to ‘de-escalate' Israel-Iran conflict
Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated the need to 'de-escalate' the conflict between Israel and Iran as the diplomatic push to calm tensions continues. The Prime Minister spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on Saturday afternoon, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy was expected to spend the day in talks with counterparts across the Middle East and elsewhere. It comes after Iran launched retaliatory attacks against Israel overnight. A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir and the Crown Prince spoke on Saturday afternoon. According to a read-out of the conversation issued by Number 10, 'they discussed the gravely concerning situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to de-escalate'. 'The Prime Minister updated on his conversations with partners so far, and reiterated that the UK is poised to work closely with its allies in the coming days to support a diplomatic resolution.' The Foreign Secretary was due to be briefed by officials on Saturday on the developments overnight, and was expected to speak to figures in the Middle East and elsewhere through the day. It comes after Mr Lammy had conversations with representatives from Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia as well as European foreign ministers on Friday. Iranian state media said Tehran has warned the US, the UK and France not to help Israel stop Iran's strikes, according to reports on Saturday. Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Israel overnight after a series of Israeli attacks on the heart of Tehran's nuclear programme and armed forces. Tehran's UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded in Israel's attacks, while Tehran's response was said to have killed at least three and wounded dozens. Speaking to broadcasters on Friday evening, Mr Lammy said: 'I spoke to my Iranian counterpart today to urge restraint at this time and calm. I recognise that this is a moment of grave peril in the Middle East.' Sir Keir and US President Donald Trump called for 'diplomacy and dialogue' in a call on Friday, amid a diplomatic flurry from western nations to try to calm the conflict. Sir Keir had earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. A Cobra meeting of high-level ministers was convened on Friday afternoon to discuss the situation. The same is not expected on Saturday but Whitehall officials were expected to be meeting. The conflict was ignited by early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases on Friday. Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building a nuclear weapon, although experts and the US government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon. Iran retaliated with waves of drones and ballistic missiles, with explosions lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Sir Keir is set for discussions with other world leaders at the G7 summit in Canada next week. Tensions between Israel, the US and Iran have escalated in recent weeks, amid negotiations over the Iranian nuclear deal, which is aimed at preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons.
