Iran says hypersonic missiles fired at Israel as Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender'
Iran claimed early Wednesday to have fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the archfoes, hours after Donald Trump demanded the Islamic republic's 'unconditional surrender.'
The US president insists Washington has played no part in ally Israel's bombing campaign, but also warned Iran his patience is wearing thin as the conflict enters a sixth day.
Israeli warplanes targeted the Iranian capital before dawn Wednesday after the military issued a warning on social media for civilians in an area known as District 18 to evacuate.
Iranian state media reported explosions ricocheting in the Piroozi, Sabalan and Sayyad areas of Tehran.
In retaliation, Iran told residents of Tel Aviv to prepare for an attack, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming its hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles were 'repeatedly shaking the shelters' in the commercial hub.
'The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles' was carried out, the Guards said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can maneuver mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran also sent a 'swarm of drones' toward Israel, where the army said it intercepted two over the Dead Sea area.
World powers have scrambled for an offramp, hoping to prevent the conflict from spiraling into a region-engulfing war.
In separate phone calls with his Iranian counterpart and US envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday night, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged a diplomatic solution.
Trump fueled speculation about American intervention when he made a hasty exit from the G7 summit in Canada, where the leaders of the club of wealthy democracies jointly called for a ceasefire.
Back in Washington on Tuesday, Trump demanded the Islamic republic's 'unconditional surrender.'
He also boasted that the United States could easily assassinate Iran's supreme leader.
'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He met with his National Security Council to discuss the conflict, ending after an hour and 20 minutes with no immediate public statement.
While he has repeatedly vowed to avoid wading into the 'forever wars' of the Middle East, Trump ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the region along with a number of US military aircraft.
US officials stressed he has not yet made a decision about any intervention.
Evacuations
Despite international alarm, neither side has backed off from the long-range blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
Israel claims its attacks have killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shadmani as well as his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
More than 700 foreigners living in Iran have crossed into neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia since Israel launched its campaign, according to government figures.
Among those evacuated were citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with others from Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China and Vietnam, a government source told AFP.
The United States said it was closing its embassy in Jerusalem until Friday amid the growing conflict, but there was no announcement about helping Americans leave the 'crisis area.'
Fearing violence, many residents of Tehran have fled.
On Tuesday, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as people rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.
A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran's main state-owned banks, the Fars news agency reported.
With air raid sirens regularly screaming over Tel Aviv, some people relocated to an underground parking lot below a shopping mall.
'We've decided to permanently set camp here until it's all clear, I guess,' Mali Papirany, 30, told AFP.
Nuclear facilities
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran denies.
Iranian media reported several explosions Tuesday in the central city of Isfahan, home to nuclear facilities.
The UN's nuclear watchdog said there appeared to have been 'direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls' at Iran's Natanz facility.
Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate with the United States while under attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had a critical role to play in restarting diplomacy with Iran, where attempts at regime change would bring 'chaos.'
China accused Trump of 'pouring oil' on the conflict, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of being 'the biggest threat to the security of the region.'
Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu's office.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.
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28 minutes ago
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What is Netanyahu's endgame?
A direct, large-scale military confrontation between Iran and Israel was always perceived as too dangerous because it risked consequences too devastating for either side to seriously contemplate, let alone initiate. That was until Israeli authorities decided last week to strike first in what is their biggest military gamble since the nation's founding fathers made the decision to declare independence. An overnight Israeli operation, daring and successful beyond imagination, turned a decades-long war of words into an actual war between the two major military powers in the Middle East. And they have already demonstrated their ability, and desire, to inflict great damage on one another in what might become an open-ended war of attrition. Unless common sense prevails among both leaderships, which appears a far-fetched hope, or, more likely, concerted international pressure can succeed in halting this deadly confrontation immediately, it might well spiral out of control. To state the very obvious, no one outside Iran, and few inside the country, wants to see it armed with nuclear weapons, which would inevitably lead to a nuclear arms race. As a matter of fact, a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East must be a long-term objective. But Israel's decision to embark on a military operation of this scale, and the timing of it, raises questions and concerns about its true objectives. It is no secret that for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the self-proclaimed 'Mr. Security,' there have for a long time been two main overarching objectives, to the point of obsession: to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to eliminate Iran's nuclear program. He views them both as existential threats to the Jewish state and, equally, as his own ticket to political relevance and endurance. There has been much discussion about, and will eventually be a formal investigation into, the ways in which Netanyahu's destructive policies designed to prevent the possibility of a two-state solution to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians contributed to the events of Oct. 7, 2023, the most devastating Israeli security failure ever which led to the ongoing war in Gaza. For him to now embark on what might prove to be the most consequential war in his country's history, people need to be convinced beyond any shred of doubt that the decision was not tainted by any ulterior motive. Alas, the Israeli prime minister's behavior throughout his political career, and most definitely during his present term in office, has failed to instill the necessary confidence that this is the case. Moreover, entering into a conflict that by some estimates could result in hundreds, if not thousands, of civilian casualties requires a united country. His government has not only divided the nation more than ever before, it has made unwarranted and acerbic criticisms of the very people now charged with carrying out the strikes against Iran, simply because they peacefully opposed the government's attacks on the country's democratic foundations, or called for an end to the war in Gaza and to bringing the hostages home. In such a high-stakes confrontation with an enemy in possession of potentially devastating capabilities, there is a need for trust in the leadership directing it, but this is hardly the case here. Most Israelis support the war against Iran — but not Netanyahu and his government. This is not that surprising, considering his legal woes, his desperation to remain in power, and his record of trying to deflect attention from his own domestic and foreign failures by pursuing a more aggressive stance, verbal or otherwise, on unresolved conflicts with Israel's neighbors. Most Israelis support the war against Iran — but not Netanyahu and his government. Yossi Mekelberg There is a lingering concern that his decision to turn up the heat on Iran had as much to do with the ongoing crisis within his own coalition government, and the fact that he is in the early stages of the prosecution's cross-examination in his corruption trial, as it had to do with the security threat emanating from Tehran. In the event of a prolonged war with Iran, it is almost impossible to envisage that any member of the coalition would resign, and Netanyahu would have the perfect excuse to delay for weeks, if not months, his appearance in court. He has claimed that the attacks on Iranian targets were justified based on new information, which he was not prepared to share, about the imminent successful conclusion of a secret Iranian program to finally obtain nuclear weapons. He stated that Tehran already had the capacity to build a number of bombs, a claim refuted by several American intelligence reports that concluded Iran is still a few years away from developing such weapons. It is more likely that Israeli authorities feared the US might reach what they consider to be an unsatisfactory nuclear deal with Iran. It is also the case that Israeli decision-makers identified an opportune moment to strike, given that Iran's 'axis of resistance' has been substantially weakened, and the Trump administration, while it did not give a green light for Israel to proceed with a military operation, neither did it order them to hit the brakes. In fact Washington is still sending mixed signals about whether it is more interested in an immediate ceasefire, or would be happy to see Iranian negotiators return to the bargaining table with their country badly wounded and humiliated — a strategy that might backfire. Israel, despite its impressive military performance until now, does not on its own have the capability to completely degrade Iran's nuclear project, and it is too early to assess the extent of the damage inflicted so far. Netanyahu gambled the US would be sucked into the conflict, either to finish the job, should the first stages of the war succeed in creating a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to put to bed the Iranian nuclear program once and for all or, if things went seriously wrong, that Washington would come to Israel's rescue. Increasingly, it seems as though Trump is inclined to order his military to finish the job; he has stated his desire to see a 'real end' to the conflict and demanded 'total surrender' from Iran, rather than a ceasefire. Top Israeli officials, chief among them Netanyahu, have not hidden their yearning for a humiliating defeat of Iran on the battlefield that could lead to regime change. However, there is no evidence to suggest the regime in Tehran would not be able to weather such a storm, or that there are opposition forces ready and able to mount an effective challenge. If anything, Iranian citizens who see their country under attack are more likely to rally round the flag. To the regime, meanwhile, the conflict provides a further excuse to take even harsher action against any signs of domestic discontent. Moreover, regime change commonly suggests a desire among the external forces that attempt to initiate it to install an administration more favorable to them — yet past experiences do not provide much reassurance that this is what would happen; quite the reverse, in fact. Netanyahu has taken the gamble of his life and in doing so he is also gambling with Israel's long-term security, and possibly that of the wider region as well. No one will benefit from a prolonged war that could entangle other regional powers. Diplomacy must step in quickly and play a central role in resolving the conflict or this will be a long and bloody summer.
Arab News
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Discrimination in East Jerusalem
Periods of war are exceptional times, during which it is perfectly understandable that governments would place certain restrictions on the population. When there is danger to the public from rockets, drones or flying debris, officials understandably prefer that large gatherings be avoided. In normal emergencies, in normal countries, this is reasonable and acceptable. But in the case of East Jerusalem, the Israeli government takes the issue to an exaggerated, maximum degree. It uses the war situation to punish the Palestinian population, using the justification that they are simply trying to protect them. The Old City of Jerusalem is home to more than 30,000 Palestinians. It is also the main shopping area for much of the city as a whole, the population of which numbers over 300,000. The Old City is also home to the cradles of world religions. 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Arab News
38 minutes ago
- Arab News
Ex-bodyguard of slain Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli strike in Iran
His former bodyguard Hussein Khalil was killed in IranAn Iraqi border guard officer said Khalil and a member of an Iraqi armed group were killed by 'an Israeli drone strike'BEIRUT: A former bodyguard for Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, was killed Saturday in an Israeli strike in Iran, an official from the Tehran-backed militant group more than a week, Israel has been carrying out waves of air attacks on Iranian targets in the foes' worst confrontation in assassinated Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27 last year, during a war that left Hezbollah severely former bodyguard Hussein Khalil — commonly known as Abu Ali, and nicknamed Nasrallah's 'shield' — was killed in Iran near the Iraqi border, the Hezbollah official told AFP on condition of Iraqi border guard officer told AFP that Khalil and a member of an Iraqi armed group were killed by 'an Israeli drone strike' after crossing into the neighboring Iraqi group, the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Brigades, said that the commander of its security unit, Haider Al-Moussawi, was killed in the 'Zionist attack,' along with Khalil and his son former bodyguard had appeared alongside Nasrallah for years during the leader's rare public two men also shared family ties, with one of Khalil's sons married to a granddaughter of Nasrallah's funeral in February, Khalil stood atop the vehicle carrying the slain leader's funeral drew a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, the first mass event organized by Hezbollah since the end of its war with five children were wounded in Iraq on Saturday by fallen debris from a missile near the town of Dujail in the northern province of Salaheddin, security and medical sources told AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the children sustained moderate and minor injuries, a medical source said.A security source in the area confirmed the children were wounded by 'a fallen fragment from a missile.'The origin of the missile was not Israel launched its unprecedented attack on Iran last week, Iranian missiles and drones have been crossing paths with Israeli warplanes in the skies over Iraq, forcing Iraq to close its airspace to commercial traffic.
