Israel intensified its attack on Iran on Sunday, including direct attacks on the country’s energy sector and Defense Ministry headquarters as Tehran fired a new round of missiles claimed to have killed four people.
The coordinated assaults were the most recent round of strikes since Israel launched a surprise attack two days prior with the goal of destroying Tehran’s rapidly developing nuclear program.
Israeli emergency officials reported that four people were killed in an apartment building in the Galilee region after Iranian missiles entered Israeli airspace, causing new explosions to erupt throughout Tehran. In Iran, where Israel attacked locations, it claimed were connected to the nation’s nuclear program as well as its Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran, death tolls were not immediately known.
Iranian missiles targeted Israeli fighter jets fuel production sites, according to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, Israel has denied it.
Planned talks between Iran and the United States about Tehran’s nuclear program were cancelled amid the ongoing violence, raising doubts about when and how the fighting would end.
“Tehran is burning,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media.
While the Israeli security cabinet met, explosions were heard close to midnight, and Iran’s state television and Israel’s military both declared the most recent round of Iranian missiles.
Israel’s continuous strikes across Iran have forced the nation’s remaining leadership to make the difficult choice of either pursuing a diplomatic path or escalating hostilities with the former’s more powerful forces.
Urgent appeals were made by world leaders to defuse the situation and prevent full-scale conflict. China’s foreign minister stated that the attack on nuclear sites created a “dangerous precedent.” After 20 months of fighting, Israel is making a fresh attempt to eradicate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza, which has already pushed the region on the edge.
Many top generals, nine leading scientists, and experts involved in Iran’s nuclear program have been killed by Israel’s strikes on Iran over the past two days. Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East. According to Iran’s envoy to the UN, 78 people were killed and over 320 injured.
Before Israel launched its campaign of airstrikes against Iran on Friday, U.S. intelligence services and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had stated on numerous occasions that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Israeli strikes to date are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days,” said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has declared the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program his top priority.
Semiofficial Iranian news agency reported that an Israeli drone struck and caused a “strong explosion” at an Iranian natural gas processing plant, which might be further escalation. It would be the first time Israel has attacked Iran’s oil and natural gas sector. The Israeli military refrained from commenting right away.
It was not immediately known how much damage had been done to the South Pars natural gas field. Israel has been targeting these installations that have air defense systems surrounding them.