Israeli strikes hit Tehran as Iran warns U.S. involvement would risk 'all-out war' | News

Israeli warplanes pounded Tehran overnight and into Wednesday, as Iran's supreme leader rejected the call for "unconditional surrender" made by U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Israeli warplanes pounded Tehran overnight and into Wednesday, as Iran's supreme leader rejected the call for "unconditional surrender" made by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public comments since the first day of Israel's bombardment last week, said conditions wouldn't be imposed unilaterally on the Islamic Republic.

"Intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language because the Iranian nation will not surrender," he said. "The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei earlier delivered a similar warning in an interview with Al Jazeera English, saying "any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region." He did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran's weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.

WATCH | Trump calls for Iran's 'unconditional surrender':

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All eyes are on Washington, where Trump initially distanced himself from the Israeli attacks but has hinted at greater U.S. involvement, saying he wants something "much bigger" than a ceasefire. Trump demanded "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" in a post on social media on Tuesday afternoon and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is hiding but that there were no plans to kill him "at least not for now." 

The U.S. has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel from Iranian attacks. Overnight, the United States moved air force refuelling tankers and C17s to European bases in Prestwick, Scotland, and Aviano, Italy, according to Aurora Intel, a group that reviews open source information in real time in the Middle East.

If the U.S. decides to support Israel more directly in its attack on Iran, one option for Washington would be to provide the "bunker-buster" bombs believed necessary to significantly damage Iran's Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant, built deeply into a mountain.

Such a bomb would have to be dropped from an American aircraft, which could have wide-ranging ramifications in the region, and the world.

Anxious times for Iranians stuck in Tehran

The latest Israeli strikes hit a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said. It said it had intercepted 10 missiles overnight as Iran's retaliatory barrages diminish.

Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes that have killed at least 24 people in Israel and wounded hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage, and air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter. 

This frame grab from a video released by Iran state TV shows a building on fire after an Israeli drone attack on Monday in Tehran. (IRINN/The Associated Press)

Iran has fired fewer missiles in each of its barrages, with just a handful launched on Wednesday. It has not explained the decline, but it comes after Israel targeted many Iranian launchers

A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded.

The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, cross-checks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

A major explosion could be heard around 5 a.m. in Tehran Wednesday, following other explosions that boomed earlier in the predawn darkness.

Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks, which has become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrike campaign has intensified.

This photograph released by the U.S. Navy shows a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter hovering over the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier while operating in the Middle East. The U.S. has been moving around military assets in the region in the wake of the Israel-Iran hostilities. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Jordan/U.S. Navy/The Associated Press)

At least one strike appeared to target Tehran's eastern neighbourhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.

Thousands have fled Tehran, spending hours in gridlock as they head toward the suburbs, the Caspian Sea, or even Armenia or Turkey. But others — those elderly and infirm — are stuck in high-rise apartment buildings. 

Shirin, 49, who lives in the southern part of Tehran, told The Associated Press that her father has Alzheimer's and her mother is afflicted with severe arthritis, making even short trips difficult. Every call or text to friends and family in the days since strikes began has felt like it could be the last, Shirin said.

"We don't know if tomorrow we will be alive," she said.

Macron cautions against escalating attacks

Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution had made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel's campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program was peaceful, though it Is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60 per cent, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb. 

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"A storm is passing over Tehran," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted on Wednesday. "This is how dictatorships collapse."

While Israel and the U.S. may hope the attacks will weaken the grip of clerics over Iran, French President Emmanuel Macron called for de-escalation while at the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday. Macron said he was categorically opposed to strikes on energy infrastructure, civilians and military action to try and force regime change.

"We don't want Iran to get a nuclear weapon," Macron said. "But the biggest error would be to use military strikes to change the regime, because it would then be chaos and our responsibility is to return discussions as quickly as possible to be able to set a course again on the nuclear and ballistic question."

Meanwhile, Israelis began returning to the country on flights for the first time since the country's international airport shut down at the start of the conflict.

Israelis arrive to the train station from Ben Gurion International Airport on Thursday as the first flights back to Israel started again since civilian airspace was closed last week. (Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters)

Two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday morning, said Lisa Dvir, an airport spokesperson.

Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad. The conflict has disrupted flight patterns across the region.

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