Iran launches 3rd night of strikes as Netanyahu warns war could lead to ‘regime change' in Tehran
IRAN has launched another blistering set of missiles into Israel as the Middle East faces a third night of carnage.
Benjamin Netanyahu said just before the latest blitz that Iran is now "very weak" as he warned of an impending "regime change" in Tehran.
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Israel successfully blasted numerous Iranian targets today but Tehran Iran fired back tonight with a barrage of around 30 missiles targeting central Israel and Jerusalem.
But the retaliatory attacks have done little to restore much faith among Iranian locals who have spent the past three days awaiting the next Israeli blitz.
Chaos erupted in Tehran today as civilians began to flee the Iranian capital amid car bombings and relentless Israeli air strikes.
A CNN correspondent based in Tehran has now reported people becoming increasingly more stressed and panicking amid the high intensity attacks.
Pictures show hundreds of cars gridlocked on roads as they try to flee the capital city.
Local media reports heavy damage was caused to Tehran's urban infrastructure. Many buildings were seen destroyed in various parts of the city.
The strikes are also said to have obliterated an aircraft repair centre, and targeted the city's famous Valiasr Square.
A slew of car bombings were also reported, which the Iranian media has blamed in Israel.
Tel Aviv has denied setting off these bombs.
Netanyahu told Fox News ' Special Report with Bret Baier that Iranian civilians are now growing tired of the current regime.
The Israeli PM claims the current leadership doesn't "have the people", and says "80 per cent of the people" want to overthrow it.
Israeli officials have even said Iran 's theocratic dictator Khamenei is not "off limits" from being targeted in the airstrikes.
There is now growing concerns that the US may be drawn into the raging conflict.
Donald Trump told ABC News network that it remains possible he will become involved at some point if strikes continue.
He warned Tehran would experience "the full strength" of the US military if it attacks the US bases in the Middle East.
Iran and Israel sit on the brink of a full-scale war after Tel Aviv accused Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear bomb.
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The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Latest: US joins Israeli air campaign and strikes 3 nuclear sites in Iran
The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel 's effort to decapitating the country's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb. bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground. President Donald Trump was the first to disclose the strikes. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government. 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It offered no photos or video showing the attack Israeli officials lauded the strikes Israeli officials lauded the strikes in sweeping and dramatic language. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, thanked Trump and said the strikes marked a 'decisive moment between the axis of terror and evil and the axis of hope.' Israel's defense minister congratulated Trump on what he described as a 'historic decision.' US steps up efforts to evacuate citizens from Israel The U.S. is stepping up evacuation flights for American citizens from Israel to Europe and continuing to draw down its staff at diplomatic missions in Iraq as fears of Iranian retaliation again U.S. interests in the Middle East grow. Even before those airstrikes were announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening in Washington, the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem announced the start of evacuation flights for American civilians from Israel. 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Iran says 'no signs of contamination' after US strikes nuclear facilities Iran said early Sunday there were 'no signs of contamination' at its nuclear sites at Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz after U.S. airstrikes targeted the facilities. Iranian state media quoted the country's National Nuclear Safety System Center, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes. 'There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,' the statement added. Earlier Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites similarly have caused no recorded release of radioactive material into the environment around the facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. Strikes used 'bunker buster' bombs and cruise missiles The U.S. military used 'bunker-buster' bombs in its attack on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, which is built deep into a mountain, a U.S. official said. 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'In my name, and on behalf of all citizens of Israel and on behalf of the entire Jewish world, I thank him from the bottom of my heart.'
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
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The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump bombs Iranian nuclear facilities in major escalation. What happens next?
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Following Saturday's bombings, Iran's atomic agency vowed 'never' to stop its nuclear program, according to Iranian media. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the three targeted nuclear sites came under 'savage assault,' seen as 'blatant violation of international law, particularly the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.' The agency also accused the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog of 'complicity' in the effort as it urged the international community to condemn the strikes and 'never allow the progress of this national industry … to be halted.' Aerial bombardment alone would not be enough to conclusively stop any nuclear ambitions because 'neither Israel nor the U.S. can kill all the nuclear scientists,' former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker told Politico. Targeted strikes that significantly damage operations could convince Iran to negotiate, according to former U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross. But a wider assault — fueled by demands from Israeli officials and Iran hawks in the United States — could be seen by Iran as seeing that 'they have little to lose and their best bet is to show they can make us pay a heavy price,' he told Politico. When Israel struck nuclear programs in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007, 'the long-term results were diametrically different,' according to Mara Karlin, former assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities under Joe Biden. 'Tehran could conceivably choose either path,' she said. 'And, as long as the uranium enrichment complex at Fordow remains largely intact, it does not need to decide.' Blowback in Washington — and across America Trump's attacks risk deepening a growing divide between his allies and anti-interventionist Republicans now tenuously aligned with a wider anti-war movement and the majority of Americans who do not want the United States involved with Israel's campaign at all. Several members of Congress have questioned whether the president's actions are even legal, amounting to an unconstitutional attempt to escape congressional authorization. At least two congressional Republicans — Rep. Warren Davidson and Thomas Massie — joined Democrats to immediately condemn the bombings as unconstitutional. 'The only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress,' Sen. Bernie Sanders said in remarks in Oklahoma as the crowd learned about the bombings in real time. 'The president does not have the right.' 'The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,' said Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 'He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations.' The New York congresswoman said the attack is 'clearly grounds for impeachment.' Top Democrats on congressional intelligence committees were also not briefed in advance of the attacks. 'The American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran,' said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who has urged Congress to pass legislation that would require Trump to go to Congress before attacking Iran. He noted that Israeli officials said its bombs have already set Iran's nuclear capability back by two to three years. 'So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today?' he said. 'Horrible judgment. I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.' While Trump touts what he claims are unequivocal military successes, he has also spent his first few months in office developing plans to crush dissent domestically. The deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to respond to protests against his anti-immigration agenda could be seen as a 'dress rehearsal' for far more expansive emergency powers to impose federal control of America's cities, according to The Atlantic 's David Frum. More demonstrations against further military action in Iran are expected, adding to a steady rhythm of protests and unrest against the Trump administration that exploded across American streets in recent weeks.
