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Israel on Saturday threatened to strike “every target of the ayatollah regime” in Iran, whose president warned of a severe response if the Israeli attacks continue, fuelling fears of an escalating conflict.The threats came as the two longtime foes exchanged fire a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign, which scuppered plans for a new round of Iran-US nuclear talks Sunday.The Israeli strikes since Friday hit military and nuclear sites in Iran, and according to officials killed dozens, including top army and Revolutionary Guards commanders as well as civilians.Iran responded with barrages of drones and missiles fired at Israel overnight.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that “the continuation of the Zionist aggression will be met with a more severe and powerful response from the Iranian armed forces.”According to a statement from his office, Pezeshkian condemned Washington’s “dishonesty” for supporting Israel while the United States was engaged in nuclear talks with Iran — which mediator Oman said would no longer take place on Sunday, when a sixth round had been scheduled.Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said the Israeli attacks undermined negotiations and showed Israel’s “inherent hostility to diplomacy”.Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in Friday’s first wave of Israeli strikes.Israel said three people were killed and 76 wounded by Iran’s retaliation.Israel reacted furiously to the waves of drone and missile strikes launched by Iran, which lit up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.The Israeli military said it had cleared an aerial path to the Iranian capital, after dozens of strikes targeting missile launchers and air defences in Iran.”We will hit every site, every target of the ayatollah regime,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a video statement.He said the Israeli campaign had dealt a “real blow” to Iran’s nuclear programme and had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.”Very soon, you will see Israeli aircraft… in the skies over Tehran,” Netanyahu said, threatening greater action “in the coming days”.Netanyahu’s defence minister, Israel Katz, warned that “Tehran will burn” if Iran keeps targeting Israeli civilians.- ‘Smoke, dust’ -After decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East.Highlighting the unease, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against a “devastating war” with regional consequences in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ankara said.Israel is pushing the region into a “dangerous cycle of violence”, warned Iran’s top diplomat Araghchi.Launched early Friday, Israel’s operation struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant and assassinated Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami.The Israeli military said its strikes had killed more than 20 Iranian commanders.Iranian media reported five Guards killed Saturday in Israeli strikes, while authorities in one northwestern province said 30 military personnel had been killed there since Friday.Iran’s Red Crescent said an ambulance was hit Saturday in Urmia city, killing two.Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country’s defence, while Netanyahu urged them to rise up.Iran’s Mehr news agency said Tehran had warned Britain, France and the United States it could retaliate if they came to Israel’s defence.Overnight, air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters.Israel said some 150 missiles — some intercepted — had been fired from Iran. AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said.Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday.Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.”We just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said.Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.Iranian media reported a “massive explosion” on Saturday following an Israeli drone strike on an oil refinery in the southern city of Kangan.Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.- ‘Time to stop’ -The attacks prompted several countries to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace.Iran’s airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported, as was Israel’s, according to authorities.As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.”Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump discussed the conflict in a phone call, the Kremlin said Saturday.Pope Leo XIV appealed for Israel and Iran to show “responsibility and reason”.The conflict has thrown into doubt US efforts to strike a deal with Iran on its nuclear programme.After Friday’s first strikes, Trump said his administration hoped “to get back to the negotiating table”.”While there will be no meeting Sunday, we remain committed to talks,” a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it denies.

Tal Friedlander was grateful to be alive on Saturday after emerging from a bomb shelter in central Israel to find his apartment entirely destroyed by an Iranian missile strike.The shell of a residential building stood at the scene of the hit in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, with much of the block reduced to concrete rubble and mangled metal.The debris-strewn street was lined with the wreckage of several destroyed cars, an AFP journalist reported, a rare sight in Israel where advanced air defences usually intercept incoming attacks.Iran hit Israel with waves of drone and missile strikes overnight, with a barrage lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing three people and wounding dozens.The attack came in retaliation to Israel’s massive strikes on the Islamic republic which hit nuclear and military facilities, killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians, and sought to destroy the country’s defence capabilities.Friedlander said he saw interceptions in the sky before the sirens blared out.”We quickly went into the shelter, and after a few minutes we heard a huge boom — we knew it was something severe,” he told AFP.”There was smoke inside the shelter, and the shelter started to break apart a bit. We were afraid to go out,” he added.After 10 minutes in the shelter, Friedlander said he left to find his entire apartment completely destroyed.”It’s only damage to property,” he said. “I have to thank God that we are alive.”- ‘We are not nervous’ -Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts.AFPTV footage from central Tel Aviv showed fire and smoke rising from a condo tower, a large hole ripped open by an explosion at its base.”They (Iran) want to destroy us,” Friedlander said. “But we are strong…”That’s the way it is, we have to keep going, defeat them, until the victory.”In a residential area of Rishon LeZion, also near Tel Aviv, first responders stood atop the rubble of collapsed buildings, inspecting the damage.Kobi Cohen said the door of his shelter was blown away by the impact of an explosion which hit nearby.”All the windows, all the doors, all the glass of the windows burst but we survived thank God. That’s the most important thing,” he said.Cohen said someone was killed following an explosion in a nearby street, but “most people here have experienced wars in their life, so we are not nervous”.- ‘Trust in God’ -On the beachfront in Tel Aviv on Saturday, the usually packed bars and restaurants were closed but a few dozen people swam, sunbathed, took selfies and walked dogs, seemingly unfazed by the overnight volley.”We got up, got out of the bomb shelter and went to the beach, had breakfast,” said Tal, a resident of neighbouring Jaffa who declined to give his last name.He said previous attacks, including a missile barrage from Iran in April 2024, meant Israelis had become largely used to such events. “I think we’ve pretty much destroyed their plans of retaliation,” he added, referring to Israel’s unprecedented attack on Iran which has hit more than 200 military and nuclear sites according to the Israeli army. Dalia Neeman, 77, an artist who lives in Tel Aviv also said she believed Israel’s campaign in Iran would “be for the better, for all the world”.”Something’s supposed to change,” she told AFP.Neeman said she felt safe in Tel Aviv despite Iran’s deadly retaliation. “We believe in God, trust in God to help us every time,” she said.

Israel’s strikes on Iran have taken aim at its nuclear facilities, amid fears that the Islamic republic is seeking to develop nuclear weapons — an accusation Tehran denies.Experts told AFP that while the attacks might have caused some damage to Iran’s nuclear programme, they are unlikely to have delivered a fatal blow.- What is the extent of the damage? -Israel’s operation included strikes on Iran’s underground uranium enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, and a uranium conversion facility at Isfahan, according to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information from Iranian officials.IAEA said on Friday that a key, above-ground component of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site had been destroyed, also citing Iranian officials.There was “extensive” damage to the site’s power supply, according to a report from the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a US-based organisation specialising in nuclear proliferation, which analysed satellite images.A loss of electricity to underground facilities can significantly damage the site’s centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, the ISIS institute said.If backup power is lost, “at the least, the enrichment plant is rendered inoperable for the time being”, it said.Iran has said the damage to Fordow, south of Tehran, was minor.But experts said it is impossible at this stage to determine the impact the strikes might have had on uranium stockpiles believed to be stored around the Isfahan site.Ali Vaez, International Crisis Group’s Iran project director, told AFP that if Iran managed to transfer significant quantities to “secret facilities,” then “the game is lost for Israel”.- Can the programme be destroyed? -While “Israel can damage Iran’s nuclear programme… it is unlikely to be able to destroy it”, Vaez said, arguing that Israel does not have the massively powerful bombs needed “to destroy the fortified, bunkered facilities in Natanz and Fordow”.Destroying those would require US military assistance, added Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association.She also stressed that Israel’s unprecedented attack cannot erase the expertise Iran had built up on nuclear weapons, despite killing nine Iranian nuclear scientists.- What are the risks to the Iranian population? -The IAEA has not detected any increase in radiation levels at the affected sites.”There is very little risk that attacks on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities would result in a harmful radiation release,” said Davenport.But an attack on Bushehr, Iran’s only nuclear power plant, could “have a serious impact on health and the environment”, she added. After Israel launched its strikes, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked” and that targeting Iranian sites could have “grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond”.- Is Iran close to developing a nuclear bomb? -After the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a landmark deal that sought to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities, Iran has gradually retreated from some of its obligations, particularly on uranium enrichment.As of mid-May, the country had an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes enriched to up to 60 percent — just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.Iran theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA.Iran is the only non nuclear-armed state producing uranium to this level of enrichment, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.While the IAEA has been critical of Iran’s lack of cooperation with the UN body, it says that there is “no credible indications of an ongoing, undeclared structured nuclear programme”.Tehran has consistently denied ambitions to develop nuclear warheads.But Davenport warned the strikes could strengthen factions in Iran advocating for an atomic arsenal.”Israel’s strikes set Iran back technically, but politically the strikes are pushing Iran closer to nuclear weapons,” she said.

Ukraine said on Saturday it hoped the military escalation between Israel and Iran would not lead to a drop in aid to Kyiv, at a time when European support is stalling without US engagement. Israel unleashed large-scale attacks on Iran on Friday, targeting nuclear and military facilities, high-ranking generals and atomic scientists.Iran in return launched barrages of drones and missile at Israel.The escalation sparked international calls for restraint as fears of broader conflict grow.In Kyiv it also sparked anxiety about future supplies of military aid, fearing Washington might relocate more resources to beef up the defence of its close ally Israel.  “We would like to see aid to Ukraine not decrease because of this,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.”The Ukrainian leader warned that Europe’s support was already stalling without Washington’s engagement.”Europe has not yet decided for itself what it will do with Ukraine if America is not there,” he said.The return to the White House of US President Donald Trump has upended the West’s provision of aid to Kyiv. It has left Europe scrambling to work out how it can fill any gap in supplies if Trump decides to pull US military, financial and intelligence support.Zelensky urged the United States to “shift tone” in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was “too warm” and would not help to end the war.  Trump has sought rapprochement with Moscow and held three phone calls with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin so far this year.He has stunned NATO allies with the stark change in policy from that of the previous US administration, which aborted almost all contacts with Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Israeli attacks on Iran also drove oil prices up, which Zelensky said would benefit Russia. “The attacks led to a sharp rise in oil prices. This is bad for us,” he added, reiterating a call for the West to introduce price caps on Russian oil exports.The Ukrainian leader said he hoped to raise the issue of price caps at a possible meeting with Trump in the near future.He added, however, that the Israeli strikes might prove favourable for Kyiv if they lead to a drop in Iranian supplies of military equipment to Russia, which has relied heavily on Iranian-made attack drones.  – More soldiers return home -Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners on Saturday, the fourth such swap this week, under agreements clinched in Istanbul earlier this month.Kyiv also said it had stopped Russian advances in the northeastern Sumy region.  The deals to hand over killed soldiers and exchange captured ones are the only agreements to have come out of two rounds of peace talks in Istanbul.Russia has rejected calls to halt its three-year invasion. It has demanded Ukraine cede even more territory and renounce Western military support if it wants peace.Since Russia invaded in February 2022, the war has forced millions of people to flee their homes as towns and cities across eastern Ukraine have been flattened by heavy bombardments.As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv also said it had received another 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia. It said Moscow had said they were those of “Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel”Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Meanwhile, Russia intensified its offensive along the front line, especially in the northeastern Sumy region, where it seeks to establish a “buffer zone”.This zone is designed, ostensibly, to protect the Russian border region of Kursk, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelensky said Russia’s advance on Sumy was stopped and that Kyiv’s forces had managed to retake one village. He said 53,000 men Russian soldiers were involved in the Sumy operation.  

Israel warned Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran keeps targeting its civilians and boasted it now had control of the airspace from western Iran all the way to the capital.”The Iranian dictator is turning the citizens of Iran into hostages and bringing about a reality in which they –- especially the residents of Tehran -– will pay a heavy price because of the criminal harm to Israeli civilians,” said Defence Minister Israel Katz.”If (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles toward the Israeli home front –- Tehran will burn.”The Israeli military said its raids had cleared its path to the capital. “We have created aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran… Tehran is no longer immune,” said spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin.The threat came as Israel and Iran exchanged fire a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign that Iran said hit its nuclear facilities, “martyred” top commanders and killed dozens of civilians.Iran has hit back with waves of drone and missile strikes, with a barrage of dozens lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens.Following decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time that Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, with fears of a prolonged conflict engulfing the region.Israel launched the aerial assault early Friday, only days before Iran and the United States had been due to hold a sixth round of talks on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.The operation — dubbed “Rising Lion” — struck Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant and assassinated Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, among other senior generals.On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had Tehran in its sights after strikes on dozens of missile launchers and air defences.”The way to Iran has been paved,” the military’s chief of staff and air force chief were quoted as saying in a statement. The military “is proceeding according to its operational plans, and (Israeli air force) fighter jets are set to resume striking targets in Tehran,” it added.- ‘Smoke, dust’ -Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in Friday’s first wave of Israeli strikes.Iranian media reported two Revolutionary Guards killed Saturday in an Israeli strike on a base in the country’s centre.Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country’s defence as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up.A report in Iran’s Mehr news agency said the Islamic republic had warned Britain, France and the United States it could retaliate if they came to Israel’s defence.”Any country that participates in repelling Iranian attacks on Israel will be subject to Iranian forces targeting all regional bases of the complicit government,” it said without citing any officials.Overnight, air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters.The Israeli military said three people were killed and 76 injured in Israel since Iran began its attacks.Israel said dozens of missiles — some intercepted — had been fired from Iran. AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said.Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday.Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.Speaking to CNN, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.”We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” Leiter said.In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion.Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.- ‘Time to stop’ -The attacks prompted several countries in the region to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday morning, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace.Iran’s airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported.As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X late Friday.Pope Leo XIV appealed for Israel and Iran to show “responsibility and reason”.Asked how long the war would last, Israel’s ambassador to Paris, Joshua Zarka, said: “A small number of weeks.” Prime Minister Netanyahu had said on Friday the strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”.The conflict has thrown into doubt Sunday’s planned Iran-US nuclear talks in the Gulf sultanate of Oman.After Friday’s first strikes, US President Donald Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding the United States was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an allegation it denies.Iran said on Saturday it would be “meaningless” to attend the talks while it was under attack by Israel.

Iran struck Israel with barrages of missiles on Saturday, a day after a massive onslaught against its nuclear and military facilities killed top generals and nuclear scientists.Israeli emergency services said two people were killed when a rocket hit a residential area early Saturday, as the two sides traded fire for a second day despite international calls for de-escalation.Iran called on its citizens to unite in defence of the country as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up against their government.Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts.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.Israeli firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a high-rise building in Tel Aviv on Friday.Resident Chen Gabizon told AFP he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.”After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place,” he said.Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.- Israel braces for more -Speaking to CNN, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.”We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them,” Leiter said.In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport early Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion.Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.The Israeli military said it had struck Iranian “defence arrays” in the Tehran area in the overnight strikes.Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country’s military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Friday that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.”Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” he said on X late Friday.- ‘Dialogue and diplomacy’ -US officials said they were helping Israel defend against the missile attacks, even as Washington insisted it had nothing to do with Israel’s strikes on Iran.US President Donald Trump agreed in a call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “dialogue and diplomacy” were needed to calm the crisis, Starmer’s office said.Trump also spoke with the Israeli prime minister, US officials said without elaborating.Iran’s missile barrages came in response to intense Israeli strikes on Friday that killed several top Iranian generals and most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air arm.Iran’s Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were also among the dead.In a televised address, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to ruin”.Netanyahu urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders, warning more attacks were coming. “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom.”- Radiation levels ‘unchanged’ -Israel pounded Iranian nuclear sites, including its main underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in central Iran.Israel said it had damaged the facility’s enrichment centrifuges but Iran said most of the damage was above ground and no casualties had been sustained.”Most of the damage is on the surface level,” said Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.He said the damage to the Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites was also only limited.The conflict threw into doubt plans for a fresh round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Oman on Sunday.After the first wave of strikes on Friday, Trump urged Iran to “make a deal”, adding that Washington was “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had concluded that Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set by a largely moribund 2015 agreement with major powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.bur-ds/gv/sco/kir