Today's Edition
(REUTERS)
Iran and Israel targeted each other with missiles and airstrikes early on Saturday after Israel launched its biggest-ever air offensive against Iran.
Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel's two largest cities, sending residents rushing into shelters as successive waves of Iranian missiles streaked across the skies. The military said its air defence systems were operating.
"In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted," the Israeli military said.
It said rescue teams were working at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported, without commenting on casualties.
In Iran, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The Iranian Fars news agency said two projectiles hit Tehran's Mehrabad airport, and Iranian media said flames were reported there. Close to key Iranian leadership sites, the airport hosts an air force base with fighter jets and transport aircraft.
Israeli media said a suspected missile came down in Tel Aviv, and a Reuters witness heard a loud boom in Jerusalem.
The Fars news agency said Tehran launched waves of airstrikes on Saturday after two salvos on Friday night. One of the waves targeted Tel Aviv before dawn on Saturday, with explosions heard in the capital and Jerusalem, witnesses said.
Those were in response to Israel's attacks on Iran early on Friday against commanders, nuclear scientists, military targets and nuclear sites. Iran denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons programme.
In central Tel Aviv, a high-rise building was hit, damaging the lower third of the structure in a densely populated urban area. An apartment block in nearby Ramat Gan was destroyed.
Israel's ambulance service said 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most with minor injuries. Police later said one person had died.
The US military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel on Friday, two US officials said. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on Friday and that most were intercepted or fell short. Several buildings in and around Tel Aviv were hit.
The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflict.
Iran's United Nations (UN) envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians.
Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs. He called Israel's operation "an act of national preservation."
Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. A UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
US President Donald Trump has said it is not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme. Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last US offer.
The talks are due to resume in Oman on Sunday but Iran has since signalled it might not join.
