Iran Says Over 400 Killed
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people since they began last week, the Islamic Republic’s health ministry said in an updated toll.
“As of this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenceless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded by missiles and drones,” health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in a post on X Saturday.
A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday that based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.
Strikes In Southwest Iran, Northern Israel
Several “powerful explosions” were heard in the afternoon in southwestern Iran’s Ahvaz, the daily Shargh reported, as Israel’s military said it was conducting strikes on “military infrastructure” in the area.
Ahvaz is the capital of Khuzestan province, which lies on the Iraqi border and is Iran’s main oil-producing region.
“Fighter jets are currently striking military infrastructure in southwestern Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Earlier, Israeli rescue services said an Iranian “drone strike hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel” following a wave of attacks reported by the military.
Israel Says 3 Iranian Commanders Killed
Israel’s military said it had killed a top Iranian official in charge of military coordination with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as well as two other Iranian commanders overnight.
Israeli “fighter jets struck and eliminated in the area of Qom the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, and the key coordinator between the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organisation, Saeed Izadi”, the military said in a statement.
The Quds Force is the foreign operations arm of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A military official also told reporters during a briefing Saturday that Israel had killed two other Iranian commanders overnight, Behnam Shahriyari and Aminpour Judaki.
Israel Hits Isfahan Nuclear Site, Again
Israel targeted “two centrifuge production sites” at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility overnight in a second wave of strikes on the location since the start of the war, a military official said.
“Isfahan we targeted in the first 24 hours of our operation, but we carried out a second wave of strikes there overnight, deepening our achievements and advancing the damage to the facility,” the official told reporters during a briefing on condition of anonymity.
The repeated raids have “dealt a severe blow to Iran’s centrifuge production capabilities”, the official added.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at the site had been hit in the strike.
Houthis Threaten US Ships
Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels said they would restart their attacks on US-linked vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined Israel’s war against Iran.
“If the US gets involved in an attack and aggression against Iran with the Israeli enemy, the armed forces (Houthis) will target its ships and warships in the Red Sea,” the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a video statement.
After the start of the war in Gaza in late 2023, the Yemeni rebels began firing at military and civilian vessels in the Red Sea that they accused of ties to Israel and the United States, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The group agreed to a ceasefire with the United States last month after an intense bombing campaign by Washington, but it has not stopped firing missiles at Israel.
Iran Arrests 22 Over Israeli Spy Links
Police in Iran’s Qom province said 22 people “linked to Israeli spy services” had been arrested since June 13.
Citing the head of police intelligence in Iran’s Qom province, the Fars news agency reported the suspects were accused of “disturbing public opinion and supporting the criminal regime”.
A European national was also arrested for alleged spying, the Tasnim news agency reported on Friday, without giving their nationality or the date of the arrest.
Via: Agence France-Presse
