Heavy attacks were reported in Tehran yesterday after Israel said it was hitting “regime infrastructure” in a “new phase” of the war it launched with the US against Iran.
As the conflict entered its seventh day, its regional repercussions continued — with Qatar saying it intercepted a drone targeting a US base and Lebanon reporting the death toll from Israeli strikes had risen to 123.
US President Donald Trump said he was not currently considering sending US ground troops into Iran, after earlier saying he would “have to be involved” in choosing the country’s next leader.
Photo: ISNA / AFP
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed when US-Israeli strikes began on Saturday last week. Trump rejected the possibility that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, could succeed his slain father, dismissing him as a “lightweight.”
Iranian media reported heavy strikes in Tehran shortly after Israel announced it was striking “regime infrastructure” in the city.
Israel’s military chief had earlier warned the conflict was moving to “the next phase” and pledged to “further dismantle the regime and its military capabilities.”
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also announced “firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had fired missiles toward Tel Aviv after an earlier wave of explosions that caused a blaze at a residential building in the central Israeli city.
The conflict has drawn in Lebanon after Iranian-backed Hezbollah launched missiles in retaliation for the war.
Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes in Lebanon, killing 123 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
In Iran, an Internet blackout has limited information on how the country’s population is weathering the assault.
Internet connectivity is running at about one percent of usual levels, monitor group Netblocks said, while authorities have warned people against using VPNs.
Iran has retaliated against Israel and targets in neighboring Gulf countries, including Qatar, which said its air defenses thwarted a drone attack targeting the US airbase at Al-Udeid.
Bahrain said Iran had targeted a hotel and two residential buildings in the capital, but that there was “no loss of life,” while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three ballistic missiles and three drones.
Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in Gulf countries since the war began, including an 11-year-old girl in Kuwait.
The conflict has expanded as far afield as the Sri Lankan coast, where a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate, and Azerbaijan, which threatened retaliation after a drone hit an airport.
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi struck a defiant tone on Thursday, saying Tehran had not sought a ceasefire and did not “see any reason why we should negotiate with the US.”
However, Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command responsible for US forces in the Middle East, said Iran’s strikes were diminishing.
“Ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90 percent since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83 percent since day one,” Cooper said.
Washington has offered shifting goals for the conflict, including denying Iran nuclear weapons and offering its people the opportunity to “rise up.”
Iran said it has control over the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint through which much of the world’s energy flows, although Washington has said it could accompany ships if needed.
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