Iran retaliates with missile barrage on Israel

KABUL (Pajhwok): Iran has launched ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s overnight strike, according to media reports.

Iran and Israel exchanged missile and airstrikes early on Saturday after Israel carried out its largest-ever air offensive against its long-time adversary, in an effort to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported.

Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel’s two largest cities, sending residents rushing into shelters as successive waves of Iranian missiles streaked across the skies.

“In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the State of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted,” the Israeli military said.

In Iran, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The Fars news agency stated that two projectiles struck Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.

Iranian media also reported flames at the site. Located near key leadership compounds, the airport hosts an air force base equipped with fighter jets and transport aircraft.

Israeli media reported that a suspected missile landed in Tel Aviv, and a Reuters witness heard a loud explosion in Jerusalem. It remained unclear whether the events were caused by Iranian strikes or Israeli defensive systems.

According to Fars, Tehran launched successive waves of airstrikes on Saturday following two salvos on Friday night.

One wave targeted Tel Aviv before dawn on Saturday, with explosions also heard in Jerusalem, witnesses reported.

These strikes were in retaliation for Israeli attacks early on Friday against Iranian commanders, nuclear scientists, military targets, and nuclear facilities. Iran maintains that its uranium enrichment efforts are for peaceful purposes.

In central Tel Aviv, a high-rise building was struck, damaging its lower third in a densely populated area. An apartment block in nearby Ramat Gan was reportedly destroyed.

Israel’s ambulance service said 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most sustaining minor injuries. Police later confirmed that one person had died.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s bombing of Iran’s vast Natanz underground nuclear facility and the killing of top military commanders.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful use.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official warned that no place in Israel would be safe and that revenge would be severe.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, claimed that 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran, with more than 320 wounded, the majority of them civilians.

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said intelligence confirmed that Iran was only days away from producing enough fissile material for multiple nuclear bombs. He described Israel’s actions as “an act of national preservation.”

US President Donald Trump stated that it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by agreeing to a deal on its nuclear programme.

Tehran had been engaged in discussions with the Trump administration to formulate a new agreement to curb its nuclear activities, replacing the one abandoned by Trump in 2018. Iran, however, rejected the latest US offer.

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