After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise aerial campaign against targets across Iran, saying they aimed to prevent its arch-foe from acquiring atomic weapons -- a charge Tehran denies.
Israel’s strikes have so far killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities.
In Tehran, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was abruptly cut when an Israeli strike hit its building on Monday.
Israel had previously issued an evacuation warning for the part of town where IRIB is located, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying before the strike that Iran’s “propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear”.
IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying “the voice of the Islamic revolution... will not be silenced with a military operation”.
After days of repeated strikes, residents appeared to be streaming out of the city, according to social media posts verified by AFP, showing huge traffic jams on the main road heading north.
In Israel, Iranian attacks on Monday hit Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa -- leaving behind shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris.
The death toll in Israel rose by 11 on Monday, the prime minister’s office said, bringing the total since Friday to 24. The figure included three people killed when a missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa on Sunday, according to an Israeli official.
At the same time, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was leaving Southeast Asia after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it is headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence as Israel and Iran do battle.
Britain’s Starmer told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies on Monday that he believed his fellow leaders were united in wanting de-escalation between Israel and Iran.
China urged both sides to “immediately take measures to cool down the tensions” and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that Ankara was ready to play a “facilitating role” to end the conflict.
The Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed 120 missile launchers, describing this as a third of Iran’s total.
US President Donald Trump has insisted Washington had “nothing to do” with its ally Israel’s campaign, but warned any Iranian attack on American interests would trigger “the full strength” of the US military.
“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,“ he said from the G7 summit.
A senior US official told AFP Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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