TEL AVIV/DUBAI/WASHINGTON. Israel and Iran launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against each other early Saturday, following Israel’s largest-ever offensive aimed at crippling Tehran’s nuclear program.
Before dawn, air raid sirens wailed across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, prompting residents to seek shelter as Israeli air defense systems attempted to intercept incoming Iranian missiles.
“In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted,” the Israeli military said. Rescue operations were underway in multiple locations hit by projectiles, though no official casualty figures were released immediately.
Explosions were also reported in Tehran, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. Iranian state media said Tehran had launched a third wave of airstrikes Saturday, following two rounds the previous night. These were in retaliation for Israeli attacks that targeted high-level commanders, nuclear scientists, military sites, and the underground Natanz nuclear facility.
Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched at Israel. The Israeli military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on Friday, with most intercepted or falling short. Several buildings in the Tel Aviv area were damaged, and Israel’s ambulance service reported 34 injuries, mostly minor. One person later died, according to police.
The United States confirmed that its military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel on Friday. Two U.S. officials stated that American forces participated in the defense effort.
The strikes heightened fears of a wider regional conflict. However, Iran’s regional allies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, have been significantly weakened by Israeli military actions in recent months.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of initiating war. Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, claimed 78 people were killed in Israel’s strikes, including senior military officials, and over 320 were wounded, mostly civilians. He blamed the United States for being complicit in the attacks and held Washington fully responsible for the consequences.
Israel’s U.N. representative, Danny Danon, defended the strikes, claiming intelligence showed Iran was days away from producing enough fissile material for multiple nuclear bombs. “This was an act of national preservation,” Danon said.
While Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, the U.N. atomic watchdog reported this week that Tehran was violating its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, told the U.N. Security Council that Israel had destroyed Natanz’s above-ground pilot enrichment plant and that inspections were ongoing at other damaged facilities in Fordow and Isfahan.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump commented that Tehran still had time to stop the Israeli offensive by reentering talks on its nuclear program, which collapsed after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has since rejected the latest U.S. proposals.
Edgaroo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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