Arch foes step up strikes amid calls for peace
Israel pressed its bombardment campaign on Iran on Sunday, striking a defence facility and fuel depots as the two arch foes kept up their most intense confrontation in history. It came after Iranian missile fire targeting Israel killed at least 10 people overnight, according to authorities, pushing the death toll up to 13 since Iran began its retaliatory strikes on Friday.
In Tehran, a heavy cloud of smoke hung above the city after Israeli aircraft hit two fuel depots. For days, Iranians have formed long queues at petrol stations, fearing shortages. Iranian media later said Israel attacked a facility affiliated with the defence ministry in the central city of Isfahan, reporting 'possible damage'. The Israeli military said its air force had targeted 'more than 80' positions in Iran's capital overnight.
Following the strikes, US President Donald Trump said Washington 'had nothing to do' with ally Israel's intense bombardment campaign that was launched early on Friday, hitting key military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas. But Trump also threatened to launch 'the full strength and might' of the US military if Iran attacks American interests, saying on his Truth Social platform that 'we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!' Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi nonetheless said that Tehran had 'solid proof' that US forces had supported Israel in its attacks.
Aftermath of missile attack from Iran on Israel
Israeli police said six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of an overnight missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv on Israel's Mediterranean coast. First responders wearing helmets and headlamps picked through the bombed-out building as dawn broke, with police saying at least seven people were missing. 'There was an explosion and I thought the whole house had collapsed,' said Bat Yam resident Shahar Ben Zion. 'It was a miracle we survived.'
In northern Israel, rescuers and medics said a strike late on Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women. Israeli authorities have reported a total toll of 13 dead and 380 injured in the country since Friday. 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 Sunday, but Tehran said Israel has killed several top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
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 entire Middle East. In Iran's capital early on Sunday, journalists heard a series of blasts. The head of Tehran's traffic police Ahmad Karami said 'heavy traffic was reported at the capital's exit points'.
Israel said its forces had struck the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran, where Iranian news agency Tasnim reported damage. The Israeli military also said it had struck nuclear sites, including the secretive Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), fuel tankers and other targets.
The Iranian oil ministry said Israel targeted two fuel depots in the Tehran area. A journalist saw a depot at Shahran, northwest of the capital, on fire. Iranian media later said that police had arrested two suspects over alleged links to Israel's Mossad spy agency.
A man walks through the smoke of an explosion following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran
On Sunday, the Israeli military warned Iranians to evacuate areas near weapons facilities nationwide. 'The Zionist regime crossed a new red line in international law' by 'attacking nuclear facilities', Araghchi told foreign diplomats, according to state TV. 'If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop,' he added.
Araghchi also condemned on Sunday Israel's attack a day earlier on a major gas facility operating at South Pars, the world's largest known gas reserve located off of Iran's southern Bushehr province.
The attacks persisted despite global calls for de-escalation, with Iran scrapping scheduled nuclear talks with the US, saying it was 'meaningless' to negotiate while under fire from Israel. — AFP
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