NETANYAHU CLAIMS KILLING OF IRAN’S SPY CHIEF AMID ESCALATING STRIKES
Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country.
Planned talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, which could provide an off-ramp, were cancelled.
Israel’s strikes have killed at least 406 people in Iran and wounded another 654, according to a human rights group that has long tracked the country, Washington-based Human Rights Activists. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday strongly implied that Israel has killed Iran’s intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi in an airstrike, as tensions between the two rivals escalate. “Moments ago, we also got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News from an undisclosed location in Israel. He added, “our brave pilots are over the skies of Tehran, and we’re targeting military sites, nuclear sites.”
The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment Friday of Iranian nuclear and military sites killed several top generals and nuclear scientists. Neither side showed any sign of backing down.
Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran’s heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.
Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been adversaries for decades.
Explosions shook Iran’s capital, Tehran, around noon and again around 3:30 p.m. Semiofficial news agencies close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reported one strike in the area of Vali-e Asr Square downtown and another in a neighborhood named for the air force, which is headquartered there.
Sirens went off across much of Israel again around 4 p.m., warning of what would be Iran’s first daytime assault since the fighting began.
US President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can avoid further destruction only by agreeing to a new nuclear deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if Israel’s strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop.” He said the United States “is a partner in these attacks and must take responsibility.”
Mosques as bomb shelters: Israel said 14 people there have been killed and 390 wounded. Iran has fired over 270 missiles, 22 of which got through the country’s sophisticated multi-tiered air defences to make impact, according to Israeli figures. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.
Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s Defence Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defences, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear programme.
Death toll mounts in Israel: In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building. A local police commander said 180 people were wounded and seven were missing.
Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded after a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.