Israel’s military said Wednesday it struck an Iranian centrifuge production facility and multiple weapons manufacturing sites, in the latest round of strikes between the archfoes.
“More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets... carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours,” an Israeli army statement said.
“As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted.”
“During the wave of attacks, several weapons manufacturing sites were struck, including facilities for producing raw materials and components used to assemble surface-to-surface missiles,” it added.
Israeli warplanes targeted the Iranian capital before dawn Wednesday after the military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district for their safety.
Iran said early Wednesday it fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the archfoes, hours after Donald Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender.”
The US president insists Washington has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned Iran his patience is wearing thin as the conflict enters a sixth day.
Iran told residents of Tel Aviv to prepare for an attack, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming its hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles were “repeatedly shaking the shelters” in the commercial hub.
“The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles” was carried out, the Guards said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran also sent a “swarm of drones” towards Israel, where the army said it intercepted two over the Dead Sea area.
World powers have scrambled for an offramp, hoping to prevent the conflict from spiralling into a region-engulfing war.
Evacuations
Despite international alarm, neither side has backed off from the long-range blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
Israel claims its attacks have killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shadmani as well as his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
More than 700 foreigners living in Iran have crossed into neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia since Israel launched its campaign, according to government figures.
Among those evacuated were citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with others from Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China and Vietnam, a government source told AFP.
The United States said it was closing its embassy in Jerusalem until Friday amid the growing conflict, but there was no announcement about helping Americans leave the “crisis area”.
Fearing violence, many residents of Tehran have fled.
On Tuesday, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as people rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.
A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran’s main state-owned banks, the Fars news agency reported.
With air raid sirens regularly screaming over Tel Aviv, some people relocated to an underground parking lot below a shopping mall.
“We’ve decided to permanently set camp here until it’s all clear, I guess,” Mali Papirany, 30, told AFP.
AFP
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