Israel launches new strikes on Iran, threatens to ‘burn Tehran’
Israel and Iran traded fresh rounds of strikes overnight on Saturday after Tehran struck Tel Aviv with several waves of ballistic missiles.
At least three Israelis were killed and dozens more injured.
The Israeli military said it had targeted dozens of missile launchers inside Iran while Iranian state TV announced a new volley of ballistic missiles.
Military officials quoted in Iranian media on Saturday morning vowed to expand the conflict in the coming days to include US military bases in the region.
This came hours after Iran launched its wave of retaliatory strikes against Israel, hitting several sites in Tel Aviv including a building inside the compound that hosts the defence ministry and military headquarters.
Israel started the conflict in the early hours of Friday morning with an unprecedented wave of strikes across Iran targeting nuclear facilities and military sites.
A number of senior military leaders were killed, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami and army chief of staff Mohammed Bagheri.
Iran says Israel’s strikes have killed 78 people and wounded more than 320. Several Israelis were killed and dozens wounded in Iran’s counterstrikes.
Egypt blocks activists’ bid to march to Gaza border
Egyptian authorities have blocked activists’ efforts to hold a march to the Gaza border to draw attention to Israel’s blockade of the war-torn Palestinian territory, organisers said Saturday.
Several dozen activists hoping to join the planned Global March to Gaza were stopped on the edge of Cairo as they attempted to reach the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya, the organisers said.
From there, they had hoped to travel on by road to the North Sinai city of El-Arish, the starting point for their planned march to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza border.
Most of the activists were ordered onto buses back to the capital after several hours of questioning, but some remained in custody on Saturday, the organisers said.
“We were blocked for six to seven hours before security forces violently dispersed our group,” one organiser said.
At least one activist was expelled from Egypt, several sources said, adding to dozens more denied entry or expelled in the run-up.
Egyptian authorities have not commented on the reported expulsions.
Russia offers to help calm situation in call with Iran FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in a phone call on Saturday that Moscow condemns Israel’s use of force against Iran and is ready to help de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Russia is prepared to continue to work to resolve issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Israel continued to conduct airstrikes in Iran on Saturday, the day after it launched an unprecedented bombing campaign, killing commanders and scientists and striking nuclear and military sites.
(AFP and TNA staff)
Putin, Trump discuss Iran-Israel conflict in phone call
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump discussed the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran in a telephone call on Saturday, Russian news agencies quoted top Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as saying.
Ushakov said Putin condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and the two leaders did not rule out returning to discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The agencies quoted Ushakov as saying the two presidents spoke for about 50 minutes. He described the talk as meaningful and useful.
(Reuters and TNA staff)