Israel has carried out strikes across Iran while Tehran has returned fire with missiles as the foes have traded attacks for a fifth straight day and the region anxiously braces for a potentially wider and ruinous conflict.
The violence on Tuesday came after United States President Donald Trump struck an ominous note, calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran. He followed that up hours later with comments to reporters on Air Force One after his early departure from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada, saying he is looking for a “real end” and not just a ceasefire in the conflict.
Later on Tuesday, Trump wrote several times on his Truth Social app. In one post, he said, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” without clarifying who the “we” was. Israel made the initial claim about controlling Iranian skies in recent days, without providing evidence.
Iran still has air defence systems operating. Its army said on Tuesday that it had tracked and intercepted 28 “hostile aircraft” in 24 hours. It said one of them was a spy drone trying to gain intelligence on “sensitive” sites.
Trump also made a thinly veiled threat in a post directed at Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying the US knows where he is hiding but doesn’t want him killed “for now”, adding the words “unconditional surrender”. Concerns that the US could spark a wider regional war should it enter direct conflict with Iran continue to build as rhetoric accelerates.
The Israeli military reported on Tuesday that it carried out “several extensive strikes” on what it said were missile sites and other military targets in western Iran, striking dozens of missile and drone facilities. Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed large plumes of smoke rising from several areas in Iran’s Isfahan province.
Throughout the day and into the evening, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported that “continuous and intense” explosions were being heard in densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital, Tehran.
Iranian media also reported that loud explosions were heard in the northwestern city of Tabriz, home to an air force base that Israel has repeatedly targeted since it launched a surprise assault on Iran’s military and nuclear facilities on Friday.
Three people were killed and four injured in strikes on the central city of Kashan, Iran’s state-run Nour News reported.
A residential building was struck in Tehran, and three people were rescued from the rubble, the reports added.
IRNA said eight missiles were launched at Israel in Iran’s latest salvo. Israel’s military confirmed Iran had fired more missiles, saying “most” of the missiles had been intercepted, without providing details.
Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among other areas. Images showed plumes of dark smoke rising from the site of a strike in Herzliya as emergency services were deployed at the scene.
Israel’s national emergency service said 10 people were injured while running to shelters after air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from Israel, said the Israeli military censor has forbidden the publication of images and information about Herzliya, classifying it as “sensitive”.
“That usually means that it’s either a military, intelligence or strategic asset or site that the Israeli military censor does not want to disclose,” Odeh said.
She added that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a recent statement that it targeted the “intelligence buildings in Herzliya – the Mossad and the Israeli (Aman) military intelligence – so that claim remains unanswered from the Israeli side”.
Iran’s Defence Ministry said later Tuesday that it used a new, undetectable missile in striking an Israeli intelligence facility, claiming the attack penetrated multiple layers of air defences.
Israel claims another slain general
Amid the strikes, the Israeli military claimed that it had assassinated another senior Iranian military official.
General Ali Shadmani was killed in a strike by the Israeli air force in central Tehran through the use of precise intelligence, the Israeli military said, describing him as Iran’s wartime chief of staff, “senior-most military official” and the closest military adviser to Khamenei.
Shadmani was reportedly appointed to his new post after Israel assassinated the former commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Gholam Ali Rashid, on Friday.
Iran did not immediately comment on the claim, which came days after Israel assassinated a number of Iran’s top generals as well as nuclear scientists.
Support for and condemnation of Israel
In a statement agreed at the G7 summit before Trump’s departure, the seven leaders described Iran as “the principal source of regional instability and terror”, adding that Israel “has a right to defend itself”, although Israel triggered the conflict with its attacks on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron, however, stated Tuesday that he was against military action against Iran that could lead to regime change and potential “chaos”. He called for a ceasefire and a return to nuclear negotiations.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II in an address to the European Parliament on Tuesday slammed Israel’s attacks on Iran.
“With Israel’s expansion of its offensive to include Iran, there is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end, and that is a threat to people everywhere,” Abdullah said.
“Ultimately, this conflict must end. If the world fails to act decisively, it will be complicit in Israel’s crimes.”
Qatar also said it “strongly condemns” Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, calling them “an uncalculated measure that will have very dire repercussions”.
The attacks were carried out at a time when Iran was “progressing in a positive diplomatic course” with Washington, negotiations that many regional countries were engaged in, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.
Qatar remains involved in mediation with the US and “believes there is an American desire for an agreement”.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced continued Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal.
