Israel launches ‘broad-scale’ strikes on Tehran as Iran fires new missile wave
An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes in Tehran, Iran. PHOTO: REUTERS
Azerbaijan said it had prevented several acts of "terrorist" sabotage planned by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a plot to attack a major oil pipeline running through the South Caucasus to Turkey.
The targets included the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, an Ashkenazi synagogue, and a leader of an ancient Jewish community in Azerbaijan called the Mountain Jews, according to a State Security Service statement cited by the Azertag state news agency late on Friday.
Iran has not commented on the statement.
The BTC pipeline travels via Georgia and Turkey and sends oil to Europe, and also accounts for roughly a third of Israeli oil imports. Any damage to its infrastructure could drive global energy prices even higher as the war in the Middle East enters its second week.
Israel said early Saturday it intercepted a new wave of Iranian missile attacks, as it launched 'broad-scale' strikes on Tehran on Saturday. US President Donald Trump said only Iran's unconditional surrender would bring an end to the escalating Middle East war.
The Israeli military said air defences were "operating to intercept the threat."
An AFP journalist heard a blast in Jerusalem following the warnings of an Iranian attack.
Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that sirens sounded in Tel Aviv, central Israel and the West Bank. No casualties were reported.
Social media footage and photos provided by international news agencies showed Mehrabad Airport on fire after Israel's military announced a new round of strikes.
Mehrabad Airport is located within Tehran's city limits. The airport, owned by the Iranian government, is considered the busiest in the country. It only has domestic flights, in contrast with Imam Khomeini International Airport, located outside the city.
Mehrabad International Airport.
Possible strikes on fuel storage and at least one plane might be on fire (pic 2). https://t.co/gSuzBaiaOd pic.twitter.com/O84LX561adThe Israeli military said it has begun a "broad-scale wave of strikes" on Iran's capital, Tehran. The attacks came after Iran fired a round of missiles at Israel.
Iranian state media then reported a blast in western Tehran after the Israeli military announcement.
🚨Footage of bombing in Iran#USIranWar #IranIsraelWar #IsraelIranConflict #Israel #war pic.twitter.com/J3rFzD1H1F
The latest fighting comes as the US-Israel war with Iran enters its second week.
Read: Pakistan urges Iran to avoid Gulf attacks
Trump has demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" on Friday, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war he launched alongside Israel, which could make it more difficult to negotiate a swift end to hostilities.
On Thursday, Trump had told Reuters in a telephone interview that he was demanding the right to help select Iran's new supreme leader, to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on the first day of the war.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saied Iravani strongly condemned US President Donald Trump's comments that he should play a role in picking the successor to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iravani said Trump's remarks "constitute a clear violation of the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of states and enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations."
"Iran is a sovereign and independent state," Iravani said. "It does not accept and will never allow any foreign power to interfere in its internal affairs.
"The selection of Iran's leadership will take place strictly in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people, without any foreign interference," he said.
At a UN press conference on Saturday, Iravani called the US-Israel attacks a "criminal war" and said their claims of targeting only military bases are a lie.
"According to the latest reports, at least 1,332 civilians, including women and children, have lost their lives so far... Thousands more have been injured, and the number continues to rise. Airports, schools, hospitals, health care centres, residential buildings, sports facilities, mosques, diplomatic police headquarters, and other civilian infrastructure have been deliberately targeted and destroyed," he said.
#WATCH | Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani says, "... The US and Israeli regime continue a brutal and massive attack on Iran and its people... They deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure... Iranian cities are being… pic.twitter.com/eEIi1Qi9iG
Read More: UN experts warn Jerusalem facing 'irreversible de-Palestinisation'
According to international news media outlets, the US Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs announced it is approving $151.8 million (€130.55 million) in weapons sales to Israel.
JUST IN 🇺🇸🇮🇷: U.S. Approves $151.8M Emergency Bomb Sale to Israel During Iran War
They will drop these bombs on the people of the region in this Iran War.
Israel requested 12,000 BLU-110A/B 1,000-lb general-purpose bomb bodies along with munitions support.
Secretary of State… https://t.co/0uplh0lvQt pic.twitter.com/6yeHdUDuBHUS Central Command, responsible for US forces in the Middle East, said over 3,000 Iranian targets have been struck over the past week, including Revolutionary Guard headquarters, command-and-control centres, air defence systems, missile sites, navy warships and submarines.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States is "not concerned" about reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on US troop positions and movements.
While declining to confirm the reports, Hegseth, in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," said: "We're tracking everything."
The renewed Israeli attacks on Tehran came a day after Israel intensified its air strikes on Lebanon, striking Beirut's southern suburbs, where the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah holds sway, and Baalbeck in the east.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 217 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that a "humanitarian disaster is looming."
The Norwegian Refugee Council said 300,000 people in the country had been forced to flee their homes.
Iran launched attacks on Israel and its Gulf neighbors meanwhile, with Saudi Arabia saying it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, which houses US military personnel.
Crude oil prices surged on mounting fears about global supply disruption as the US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran's pressure on the Strait of Hormuz upend the world's energy and transport sectors.
The international benchmark oil contract, Brent North Sea crude, jumped to $92.69 per barrel on Friday, up 8.5 per cent on the day and nearly 30 per cent for the week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Iran's president over the numerous civilian casualties resulting from "the armed Israeli-American aggression against Iran" and called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the Kremlin said.
In a phone call late on Friday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Putin expressed his deep condolences over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of Khamenei's family, Iranian political and military leaders and "numerous civilians".
"Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia's principled stance in favour of an immediate cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or arising in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution," the Kremlin said.
With input from Web Desk