 |
| Source Dawan News |
• Tehran warns Tel Aviv’s allies their bases will be a target if they help down its missiles
• Netanyahu says attacks so far are ‘nothing compared with what’s coming’
• 60 killed in attack on housing complex in Tehran
• UK moves warplanes to region; Trump says ‘war should end’ after phone conversation with Putin
JERUSALEM: Israel pounded Iran for a second day on Saturday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its campaign would intensify, while Tehran called off nuclear talks that Washington had held out as the only way to halt the bombing.
A day after Israel wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command with a surprise attack, it appeared to have hit Iran’s oil and gas industry for the first time, with Iranian state media reporting a blaze at a gas field in South Pars, the world’s biggest.
Netanyahu claimed Israel’s strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme “possibly by years” and rejected international calls for restraint.
“We will hit every site and every target of the Ayatollahs’ regime, and what they have felt so far is nothing compared with what they will be handed in the coming days,” he said in a video message.
On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump had a 50-minute telephonic conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders agreed that resumption of negotiations was the only way to defuse tensions in Middle East.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran and Trump described events in the Middle East as “very alarming”. But both leaders said they do not rule out a return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end,” Trump wrote on social media.
The US president has lauded Israel’s strikes and warned Iran of “much worse to come”. He said it was not too late to halt the Israeli strikes, but only if Tehran accepted a sharp downgrading of its nuclear programme.
In London Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is deploying fighter jets and other “assets” to the Middle East.
“We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support,” Starmer told reporters travelling with him on his plane to Canada for G7 talks.
In Tehran, Iranian authorities said around 60 people, including 29 children, were killed in an attack on a housing complex, with more strikes reported across the country. Israel said it had attacked more than 150 targets.
An Iranian spokesperson said 78 people were killed on the first day.
State TV broadcast pictures of a building flattened into debris, while slabs of concrete dangled from a neighbouring building.
“Smoke and dust were filling all the house and we couldn’t breathe,” 45-year-old Tehran resident Mohsen Salehi told news agency Wana after an overnight air strike woke his family.
Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing three people in Israel. Air raid sirens sent Israelis into shelters as missiles and interceptors streaked across the sky.
Late on Saturday, Israel’s military said more missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel, and that it was also attacking military targets in Tehran. Iranian state television reported that Iran had launched missiles and drones at Israel.
Several projectiles were visible in the sky over Jerusalem late on Saturday. Air raid sirens, which warn of a potential missile or drone attack, did not sound in the city but were heard in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
Host Oman confirmed on Saturday that the next round of talks had been scrapped. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said holding talks was unjustifiable while Israel’s “barbarous” attacks were ongoing.
Energy infrastructure hit
In the first apparent attack to hit Iran’s energy infrastructure, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at the world’s biggest gas field after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday.
The South Pars field, offshore in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran.
Fears about potential disruption to the region’s oil exports had already driven up oil prices nine per cent on Friday even though Israel spared Iran’s oil and gas on the first day of its attacks.
An Iranian general, Esmail Kosari, said Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers.
‘Tehran will burn’
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and urging Iran’s people to rise up against their rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.
“If (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Tehran warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.
Hundreds of ballistic missiles fired
Iran’s overnight fusillade included hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones, an Israeli official said. Three people were killed and 174 injured, mostly lightly, in 17 strikes, including on Tel Aviv, that evaded interceptors.
In Tel Aviv, uncertainty lingered on Saturday over the possibility of another Iranian barrage after air raid sirens sent residents across the country rushing into shelters overnight as missiles and interceptors streaked across the sky.
Israeli-Canadian Jordan Falkenstein, 39, said he spent the previous night in his building’s shelter with all his neighbours.
“You can see that people have a sense of precaution this weekend. We’re not sure. We’re still trying to anticipate what will happen this evening. It’s better to play it safe,” he said.
Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin cautioned as night fell that Iranian attacks were not over, urging the public to follow public safety guidelines.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country was at a historic crossroads. “This is not just our struggle. This is the struggle of all who seek peace, stability, and a hopeful future in the Middle East,” he said in a video statement.
Air defences activated
Iran activated its air defences in several regions on Saturday and Israel told its citizens to take shelter ahead of a fresh barrage of missiles, as the arch-foes exchanged massive strikes in their fiercest direct confrontation in history.
On Saturday night Israel said it was simultaneously working to intercept a new salvo of missiles fired from Iran, while also carrying out strikes on “military targets in Tehran”.
The Israeli military told citizens to heed air alerts and “enter a protected space and remain there until further notice”.
After decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East.
Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment