Israel targeted Iran’s air defence capabilities on Saturday, pressing on with a wave of massive attacks it began a day earlier that targeted Iranian nuclear and military facilities, prompting counterattacks by Iran.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that “Tehran will burn” if Iran fires more missiles at Israel.
In a televised address Friday night, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to ruin”.
International calls for restraint are multiplying, as fears grow the Middle East could be on the threshold of a broader conflict.
Here is what we know:
– Targeting air defences –
On Saturday, Israel’s military said it was striking dozens of missile launchers in Iran after announcing it had targeted air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area.
The Israeli air force “continues striking dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran”, the military said in a statement.
It said that overnight the air force “struck dozens of targets, including surface-to-air missile infrastructure, as part of the effort to damage the Iranian regime’s aerial defence capabilities in the area of Tehran”.
– Iran’s response –
Israel said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran, with AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showing blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.
Israeli rescuers said two people were killed and 19 wounded on Saturday by rocket fire on a residential area in the coastal plain.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.
– Nuclear talks? –
The fiercest exchange of fire between arch foes Iran and Israel came amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington seeking to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Before the Israeli strikes, they were set to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday, but Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said: “It is still unclear what decision we will make for Sunday.”
Tehran has consistently denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon but had been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely obsolete 2015 agreement with major powers.
However, Iran’s 60-percent enrichment level is still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.
– More Iranian generals killed –
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that General Gholamreza Mehrabi, deputy head of intelligence of the armed forces general staff, and General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy head of operations, “were martyred”.
On Friday, top brass killed included the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, and armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, with replacements swiftly named by supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The Revolutionary Guards said its aerospace commander Amirali Hajizadeh was also killed. He was in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.
Iranian media said on Saturday that three more nuclear scientists were killed, bringing the total to nine — a toll that Israel also reported.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.
– Nuclear sites hit –
Israel’s attacks started in the early hours of Friday, a day of rest and prayer in Iran, and continued through the day, at various sites.
A key target was a vast underground uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, which Israel hit several times, according to Iranian state television.
Israel said another strike later Friday on Iran’s uranium conversion plant in Isfahan damaged infrastructure for reconverting enriched uranium.
But Iran said the damage was limited, both in Isfahan and at another uranium enrichment facility at Fordo.
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