Israel Steps Up Airstrikes in Tehran, As Iran Widens Its Response Across The Region
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Israel stepped up airstrikes on Iran’s missile launchers and factories on Tuesday, and Iran retaliated against Israel and across the Gulf region, disrupting energy supplies and travel. While explosions were heard in Tehran and Lebanon, where Israel said it was responding to Hezbollah militants, the American embassy in Saudi Arabia was attacked by a drone.
Four days into the war, which President Donald Trump said would last several weeks but perhaps longer, hundreds of people have been killed, the vast majority in Iran. Information from Iran has been limited due to poor communications, 24-hour airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.
Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel and set off air raid sirens across the country. The pace of attacks appears to have slowed and Israel blocked most incoming fire, but some missiles touched down, killing 11 people.
The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end. Trump appeared to leave open the possibility of broader U.S. military intervention, telling the New York Post on Monday that he was not ruling out the possibility of landing.
The management set various goals. Although the initial US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump called on Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said the goal was not regime change.
Trump said Monday that the four goals of military action are to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, destroy its navy, prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons and ensure it cannot continue supporting allied armed groups.
Trump says people the US considers leading Iran have died Trump said on Tuesday that an “insider” of the Iranian regime may be the best choice to seize power once the US-Israeli campaign ends.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s ousted Shah, is not someone his administration is deeply considering taking over.
In terms of potential leaders in Iran, Trump said, “the people we had in mind are dead.”
“I think the worst case scenario is to do this and then have someone take over who is just as bad as the last person, right? That could happen,” Trump said. “We don’t want that to happen.”
Iranian leaders are trying to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. It is only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new religious leader has been elected. Potential candidates range from hardliners determined to confront the West to reformers seeking diplomatic interaction.
Israel and the US are hitting nuclear facilities and other targets in Iran. Planes were heard and explosions were heard throughout the night into Tuesday in Iran’s capital.
The Israeli army said it launched a wave of air strikes on areas that produce and store ballistic missiles in Tehran and Isfahan. Iranian state television reported that the attack caused two explosions at a broadcast facility in Tehran and no one was injured.
Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site has suffered “some recent damage” but “no radiological consequences are expected”, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said. The US struck Natanz during the 12-day war in June, when Israeli and American strikes greatly weakened Iran’s nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed, without providing evidence, that Iran was building “new areas, new places” underground to make an atomic bomb. Iran says it has not enriched uranium since June, but maintains this right and that its nuclear program is peaceful.
Israel retaliated after Hezbollah launched a missile at Israel on Monday. The Israeli military launched more airstrikes on Beirut on Tuesday and said it was sending additional troops to southern Lebanon.
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said peacekeepers saw Israeli troops moving in and out of Lebanon. However, the Israeli army said its soldiers were still operating in Lebanon.
Fears rise in Tehran as bombardment of the capital intensifies. New airstrikes by the US and Israel have shaken Tehran and many other Iranian cities.
Engineer Ali Amoli, who lives in the north of Tehran, said, “My wife and I have been hearing explosions since midnight.” “Sometimes from the west of the city, sometimes from other directions.” The streets and gas stations seemed quieter than in recent days.
Local media published images of a commercial plane that was destroyed and damaged at Bushehr airport after the air strike on Tuesday.
A person from northern Tehran, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, described growing fears in the capital, which has come under heavy bombardment. Most shops in the normally bustling area of Tajrish are closed and ATMs are often “out of cash,” the resident said. The resident said bakeries and supermarkets were open.
Iran strikes US Embassy in Riyadh and Washington withdraws staff An attack by two drones on the US Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire” and the embassy urged Americans to stay away from the compound, according to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense. It followed the attack on the US Embassy in Kuwait. US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon announced they are closed to the public.
The US State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and families in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the United States has called on its citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries; but with much of the airspace closed, many were stranded.
The State Department said Tuesday it is preparing military and charter flights for Americans who want to leave the Middle East. Some other countries organized evacuation flights for their citizens.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent, at least 787 people died in the US-Israeli attacks. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah also attacked Israel, killing 52 people in retaliatory attacks in Lebanon.
The US military confirmed the deaths of six American soldiers. Additionally, three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The conflict confuses commercial interests in the Middle East. In retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, Iran attacked many countries seen as safe havens in the Middle East. Recent targets included two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain. The company said that its centers in the UAE were hit, while a drone crashed into nearby Bahrain, causing damage.
Iran also struck energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil trade passes, causing global oil and natural gas prices to rise.
Iranian Brigadier General said, “The Strait of Hormuz is closed.” General Ebrahim Jabbari, an advisor to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, promised that all ships passing through here would be set on fire.
Oil and natural gas prices rose and stock prices fell sharply.
