Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that "Tehran will burn" and its residents pay dearly if Iran continues its missile strikes against Israeli civilians.
"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 Israel Katz.
"If (Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles toward the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn," the minister added.
Explosions were reported early Saturday in the Iranian cities of Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Khorramabad, amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel. According to initial reports, one person was killed and five others were injured in an Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli Air Force resumed its strikes on Saturday, targeting Iran’s air defense systems and missile launchers in an effort to dismantle the military capabilities of its long-time adversary.
Claiming to possess intelligence indicating Iran was nearing a “point of no return” in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb, Israel launched its operation on Friday, striking over 200 military and nuclear sites and killing several top Iranian officials.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, reported 78 deaths and more than 320 injuries in the Israeli attacks, stating that the majority of victims were civilians.
The attack wounded seven soldiers in central Israel overnight, a military spokesperson said, one of several barrages launched in response to Israel's attack on military and nuclear sites.
"Seven... soldiers were lightly injured last night as a result of an Iranian missile hit to central Israel," the spokesperson said. Israel's commercial hub, Tel Aviv, is in central Israel and the city hosts the defense ministry and military headquarters.
The Fars and Mehr news agencies said the strikes hit the northwestern city of Tabriz as well as parts of the western provinces of Lorestan and Hamedan.
According to Iranian media reports, an Israeli strike targeted the Imam Hassan military barracks in the western city of Kermanshah. Witnesses reported hearing a loud blast followed by columns of thick smoke rising from the area.
According to Iranian media reports, Iranian defense forces have shot down four Israeli drones and a number of small aircraft in the city of Khorramabad.
Footage circulating on social media and picked up by regional news outlets showed large columns of smoke rising from the Iranian city of Qazvin.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced that three of its members were killed during an Israeli airstrike targeting positions in Iran’s Zanjan province.
The Israeli military said it had destroyed a uranium conversion plant in Isfahan and a military base in Tabriz. Iran confirmed damage at Isfahan and the Fordow site south of Tehran but claimed it was minor. Tehran also said the uranium enrichment center in Natanz had been hit.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that above-ground facilities were “destroyed” but noted no increase in radiation levels.
Israel’s military announced that its fighter jets will resume strikes on targets in Tehran, following overnight operations that reportedly targeted Iran’s air defense systems. The escalation comes amid growing attacks exchanged between the two countries.
“Meaningless to Participate”
The Iranian foreign ministry on Saturday said it would be "meaningless" to join nuclear negotiations with the United States in Oman while Iran is under attack by Israel.
"It is obvious that in such circumstances and until the Zionist regime's aggression against the Iranian nation stops, it would be meaningless to participate in dialogue with a party that is the biggest supporter and accomplice of the aggressor," the ministry's spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement ahead of the talks that were planned for Sunday.
Israel has killed three more Iranian nuclear scientists, state television reported Saturday, bringing to nine the overall number slain in Israel's attack on the Islamic republic.
“Three of the country's nuclear scientists, Ali Bekaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Borji, were martyred during the Zionist regime's terrorist attacks,” the broadcaster said. Iranian media had said earlier that six others were killed in the Israeli attack.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a staunch ally of Israel, urged Iran on Friday to “make a deal” on its nuclear program and warned that upcoming Israeli attacks would be “even more brutal.”
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