Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks at Israel early on Monday, reportedly killing at least eight people. Simultaneously, Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in central Tehran to evacuate in anticipation of new strikes.
The warning came on the fourth day of the escalating conflict, with the Israeli military asserting that it had achieved air superiority over the Iranian capital, allowing unimpeded flights over the city.
The military has previously issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon before launching strikes.
This latest warning affected approximately 330,000 people in central Tehran, including the areas housing the country’s state TV headquarters, police headquarters, and three major hospitals, one of which is owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
“At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies,” stated Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin.
The military further claimed to have destroyed over 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, representing a third of Iran’s total arsenal.
Israeli military officials added that fighter jets had targeted 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite branch of the Revolutionary Guard responsible for military and intelligence operations outside Iran.
Brig Defrin described the Israeli strikes as “a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat.”
224
The number of people believed to have been killed in Iran as a result of Israel’s attacks
Iran’s state-run news agency reported that state-run television suffered an abrupt interruption of its live broadcast following an Israeli strike.
According to the report, an Iranian state television reporter stated that the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland”.
An explosion then occurred, disrupting the screen behind her as she quickly moved out of frame. The broadcast was immediately switched to pre-recorded content.
Meanwhile, Iran announced that it had launched roughly 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for widespread attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have reportedly killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday.
US ambassador Mike Huckabee stated on X that a missile landed near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, causing minor damage from the blast waves. He confirmed that no American personnel were injured.
Israeli officials report that, up to now, 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in Israel after Iran launched over 370 missiles and hundreds of drones.
This latest conflict was triggered by an Israeli assault targeting Iran’s top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites, and nuclear scientists, which Israel said was necessary to prevent its long-time adversary from nearing the development of a nuclear weapon.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not actively pursued nuclear weapons since 2003.
However, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country possesses enough enriched uranium to potentially create multiple nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.
Iran has responded by launching waves of ballistic missiles against Israel.
This escalating cycle of violence has heightened concerns of an all-out war between the two nations, further destabilizing a region already on edge.
