Israel launched a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure across Tehran on Thursday morning, as the war in the Middle East continued to intensify with multiple fronts opening across the region.
The Israeli military said it had “just begun” targeting what it described as “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime” in the Iranian capital. Iranian news agency Tasnim and local media reported several explosions had been heard in Tehran, with the country activating its defences in response.
The strikes came after Iran launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel earlier Thursday, triggering alerts in several areas including Tel Aviv, according to the Israeli military and Tehran’s state media. Explosions were heard in Jerusalem after warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire, according to AFP journalists. Israel’s emergency services said there were no known casualties.
In Lebanon, an Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas official on Thursday, marking the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian militant group since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional war. Lebanese state media said Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife were killed when a drone targeted their home in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli.
An air strike also hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday after Israel issued a warning to residents. Three people were killed in a pair of Israeli strikes on vehicles along Beirut’s airport highway, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Iran announced Thursday it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq. The strikes killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araghchi accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka. “Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set”, he posted on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that “military assets” had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan. Albanese did not give further details, though local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.
A “large explosion” hit a tanker in the waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, British maritime security agency UKMTO said. The agency reported that the master of a tanker at anchor witnessed and heard a large explosion on the port side before seeing a small craft leave the vicinity off the Gulf state’s Mubarak Al-Kabeer area.
Qatar has begun evacuating residents of its capital living near the US embassy as a precautionary measure, the interior ministry said, after Iranian strikes. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani lambasted Iran’s foreign minister during a call, accusing Tehran of trying to drag their neighbours into war.
The US Senate rejected a bipartisan resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers. With Republicans holding a 53–47 majority in the upper chamber of Congress, the resolution fell short by exactly that margin.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he could not “rule out participation” in the escalating war. “We will stand by our allies,” he said.
Spain doubled down on its opposition to Washington’s use of its bases against Iran, after Trump’s threats of trade reprisals. The White House said Madrid had now agreed to cooperate, but Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said its stance on “bases, on the war in the Middle East, on the bombardment of Iran, has not changed at all.”
A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by NATO air defence systems, Turkish officials said Wednesday. Turkey’s foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador. A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been “aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course”.
China will send a special envoy to mediate in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. Beijing is a close partner of Iran and has said it backs Tehran in defending its sovereignty, while urging the United States and Israel to cease their attacks.
The Omani navy rescued 24 crew members of a container ship struck by missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces claimed “complete control” of the strait a day after Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort tankers through the channel.
ALSO READ: Middle East conflict escalates as fresh strikes hit Tehran and regional capitals
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