Dubai, June 14: Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel into Saturday morning, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, after a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear program and its armed forces.
Israel’s assault used warplanes, as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks.
Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the US government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon before the strikes. It also threw talks between the United States and Iran over an atomic accord into disarray days before the two sides were set to meet Sunday.
Israel’s military threatens more strikes on targets in Iranian capital
The Israeli military said around noon on Saturday that its fighter jets “were set to resume striking targets in Tehran.”
Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — confirmed in a post on X that the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran was targeted several times on Friday.
“No increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of now,” the agency said.
Syria also opens its airspace after the Israel-Iran deadly attacks
Syria’s civil aviation authority says it’s reopening the airspace on Saturday but will follow the situation in the region and take any necessary measures if needed. The airspace was closed on Friday.
National carrier Syrian Air also said it is resuming some of its flights.
Iran confirms 2 more high-ranking generals were killed in Israeli strikes
Iranian state television identified the two killed as Gen Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces’ general staff, and Gen Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations.
It did not say where the men were killed.
Israel’s strikes on Friday killed multiple high-ranking officers within Iran’s armed forces, including the chief of staff of the army and the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
3 injured in Jordan by unspecified falling object during Israel-Iran attacks
Three people were wounded in Jordan’s northern city of Irbid when an object fell on a home, state media reported Saturday.
They were taken to a hospital and are in stable condition, the Jordan News Agency said.
The report did not specify what the object was, but Iranian missiles and drones fired toward Israel flew over Jordan.
Jordanian authorities have begun an investigation, the report said.
Lebanon reopens its airspace after exchange of fire between Israel and Iran
Lebanon reopened its airspace on Saturday morning, hours after closing it due to the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport apologized to passengers whose flights were delayed, saying it had closed the airspace late Friday for the safety of travellers.
The airspace was reopened at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Saturday.
Satellite images confirm damage to Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal
Satellite images analyzed Saturday by The Associated Press began to confirm some of the damage sustained by Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal by the Israeli assault on the country.
Images from Planet Labs PBC taken Friday showed damage at two missile bases, one in Kermanshah and one in Tabriz, both in western Iran.
At Kermanshah, where the base is up against a mountainside, burns could be seen across a wide area after the attack. In Tabriz, images showed damage at multiple sites on the base.
Iran has not acknowledged the damage, though it reported on Israeli strikes in the area.
Top Sunni university condemns Israel’s attack on Iran
Al-Azhar al-Sharif, the Sunni world’s foremost institution of religious learning, has condemned Israel’s attack on Iran, describing Israel as a “rogue entity.”
“The arrogance displayed by the Israeli occupation reflects the darkest form of occupation in modern history,” the Cairo-based university said in a statement early Saturday.
It called on the international community to take “urgent actions to halt the repeated violations committed by this rogue entity.”
Iran is a powerhouse of Shiite Muslims in the region and often at odds with Sunni nations.
Israeli military says it hit dozens of targets in Iran overnight
The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, in the area of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Maj Gen Tomer Bar, the Israeli air force commander, said the strikes carried “operational and national significance.”
Israel pauses natural gas supplies to Egypt, authorities in Cairo say
Israel has paused natural gas supplies to Egypt amid its conflict with Iran, authorities in Cairo said.
The move has forced the Egyptian government to stop supplying gas to some industries, according to a Friday statement from the Ministry of Petroleum.
Some power plants that use natural gas in their operations have also reported fuel oil shortages amid peak summer demand, it said.
Egypt faces a deepening domestic gas shortfall, with a more than 7 per cent shortage in its daily gas needs to operate its power grid.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry calls nuclear talks with US meaningless’ after Israeli strikes
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday called further nuclear talks with the United States “meaningless” after Israeli strikes on the country, state television said.
The comments by Esmail Baghaei further threw possible talks between the two nations, initially scheduled to take place Sunday in Oman, into doubt.
“The US did a job that made the talks become meaningless,” Baghaei was quoted as saying. He added that Israel has passed all Iran’s red lines by committing a “criminal act” through its strikes.
However, he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The Mizan news agency, which is run by Iran’s judiciary, quoted him as saying: “It is still not clear what we decide about Sunday talks.”
Jordan will reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft
Jordan will reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft on Saturday morning, its state-run media reported, signaling the Mideast kingdom believes there is no immediate danger of further attacks.
Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the skies would reopen at 7:30 am local time.
Jordan’s airspace had seen Iranian drones and missiles cross through it, with Israeli fighter jets likely engaging targets there.
The crossfire between Israel and Iran disrupted East-West travel through the Mideast, a key global aviation route.
Woman dies in missile strike in Tel Aviv, hospital says
A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital in Tel Aviv said a woman was killed in an Iranian missile strike, bringing the total number of fatalities in the barrages from Iran to three.
The hospital also treated seven people who were wounded in the strike early Saturday. Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services said a projectile hit a building in the city.
Israel’s paramedic service says 2 people killed when missile hit central Israel
Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom says an Iranian missile struck near homes in central Israel early Saturday morning, killing two people and injuring 19 others. Israel’s Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged.
UN chief calls for escalation to stop, saying peace and diplomacy must prevail’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to halt their attacks on one another, while calling for diplomacy.
“Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” Guterres wrote on X on Saturday.
Iranian media reports a fire at Tehran’s airport
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting a fire at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, posting a video on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport.
A handful of minor injuries reported from second wave of Iranian missiles
Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv said it has treated seven people hurt by the second Iranian barrage; six had light injuries and the seventh was moderately wounded.
Iran fires a second wave of missiles at Israel
Sirens and the boom of explosions, possibly from Israeli interceptors, could be heard in the sky over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Saturday.
AP journalists in Tel Aviv could see what appeared to be at least two Iranian missiles hit the ground, but there was no immediate word of casualties.
The Israeli military said another long-range Iranian missile attack was taking place and urged civilians, already rattled by the first wave of projectiles, to head to shelter. Around three dozen people were wounded by that first wave.
The Iranian outlet Nour News, which has close links with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said a fresh wave was being launched.
Iranian air defences are firing against Israeli attacks
The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets was echoing across the centre of the capital, Tehran, shortly after midnight on Saturday.
Additionally, an Associated Press reporter could hear air raid sirens near their home.(AP)
