Tel Aviv, June 23: Israel’s military said Monday it was striking around Iran’s western city of Kermanshah, as fears of a wider regional conflict loomed large after the United States inserted itself into Israel’s war by attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
The operation raised urgent questions about what remained of Tehran’s nuclear programme and how its weakened military might respond. The price of oil rose as financial markets reacted.
Iran lashed out at the US for crossing “a very big red line” with its risky gambit to strike the three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
President Donald Trump, who has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces, has mused about the possibility of “regime change” in Iran, despite administration officials earlier indicating they wanted to restart talks with Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with CBS, said: “Let’s meet directly.”
Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said any country used by the US to strike Iran ”will be a legitimate target for our armed forces,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East.
Iranian attack targets Haifa and Tel Aviv
Iran described the new missile barrage targeting Israel as a new wave of its operation “True Promise 3,” saying it is targeting Haifa and Tel Aviv.
Iranian state television said Tehran used a mix of missiles and drones.
UK’s Lammy says US not going after Iran’s ‘civilian leadership’
Britain’s foreign minister says he is confident the US is not seeking to overthrow Iran’s government despite a social media post from President Donald Trump suggesting it might be a good idea.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Monday that “it’s clear from Israel and the United States that they’re not going after the civilian leadership” in Tehran. He said “that’s not what’s under consideration at this time.”
Lammy said he spoke to Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, and the UK is pushing to “get the Iranians back to serious diplomacy.”
Lammy told the BBC he has “not seen an assessment yet” of whether the strikes “seriously degraded Iran’s ability to come up with a nuclear programme.”
He added that “ultimately this has to be dealt with by diplomacy.”
Sirens sounded in Jordan and in central Israel
Israel’s military said there was a barrage of missiles from Iran heading to Israel later Monday morning.
Iran launched an additional barrage, the Israeli military later warned.
Iran has a free hand’ to act against US interests, top general says
Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned the US on Monday that its strikes gave a “free hand” to Iranian armed forces to “act against US interests and its army.”
Mousavi stressed Iran would not hesitate to do so after the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
He described the American attack as violating Iran’s sovereignty, entering the Israeli war on the country and being tantamount to invading the country.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported Mousavi’s remarks.
Israeli drone downed in Iran
The Israeli military said one of its drones was downed during an operation on Monday morning in Iran.
The military also said 15 fighter jets struck missile launchers and storage sites in western Iran, close to the border with Iraq.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday Israel was “very close to achieving our goals” in removing Iran’s nuclear and missile threats.
Iran’s judiciary says it executed another alleged Mossad spy
Iran on Monday hanged a third man accused of being a spy of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service since Israel’s war on the Islamic Republic began.
Activists fear more people will be executed in Iran, particularly after its theocracy issued a Sunday deadline for people to turn themselves in over spying.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the executed man as Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh. Amnesty International previously had raised his case, saying he was held in Ghezal Hesar prison in Iran’s Alborz province.
On Sunday, Iran hanged another man, Majid Mossayebi, whose case only became public after his execution.
On June 16, Iran hanged Esmail Fekri. (AP)
