Iran and Israel traded rounds of strikes late Saturday in the latest salvo since a surprise attack a day earlier aimed at decimating Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
Israeli citizens were instructed to take shelter in protected spaces as Iran launched a new round of retaliatory attacks.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said three people were killed in the Tel Aviv area, with dozens of others wounded.
Israeli police reported that four people were killed in the northern town of Tamra near Haifa, according to local media. Tamra is a predominantly Palestinian city in Israel.
Across the country, over 100 people were reported injured following Iran's latest attacks.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in a statement said that Iranian missiles targeted facilities of production of fuel for Israeli jetfighters. It said Iran will fire further missiles if Israeli strikes continue.
Israel targets Iran's Defence Ministry
Israel’s military said early Sunday it targeted Iran’s Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran.
"Tehran is burning," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X.
Israel’s military also said it targeted sites it alleged were associated with Iran’s nuclear programme around Tehran.
It alleged the sites were “related to the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons project.”
US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon before Israel unleashed its campaign of airstrikes targeting Iran beginning Friday.
Upcoming US-Iran talks cancelled
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said on social media the sixth round of indirect nuclear talks on Sunday “will not now take place." Although the talks are off for now, “we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon," said a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.
Israel and Iran signalled further attacks, despite urgent calls from world leaders to deescalate and avoid all-out war.
In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semi-official Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a “strong explosion” at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Iran’s oil and natural gas industry. Israel's military did not immediately comment.
The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defence systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran was not actively pursuing the bomb. But its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday, the UN's atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Aragchi said Saturday the nuclear talks were “unjustifiable” after Israel's strikes. His comments came during a call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
