Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a grave warning to Iran on Saturday, declaring that “Tehran will burn” if the Islamic Republic continues firing missiles at Israel.
The threat came in response to Iran’s overnight ballistic missile barrage on Friday, which killed at least three people and wounded dozens more.
Katz accused Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of holding his own citizens hostage, warning that Tehran’s residents would “pay a heavy price” for attacks on Israeli civilians.
The missile strikes marked Iran’s first direct military assault on Israeli territory, escalating long-simmering tensions between the two nations.
According to military reports, Iran launched a combination of drones and ballistic missiles in retaliation for Israel’s recent attacks on Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
Air-raid sirens sounded across northern Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights during the assault, with authorities urging civilians to take shelter in protected areas.
Iranian missiles have struck Israel’s top military headquarters in central Tel Aviv, according to local and international media.
The Kirya compound — home to the Israeli military’s central command and the Ministry of Defence — is often referred to as Israel’s “Pentagon”
Scientists’ Identities Revealed
In a related development, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) publicly identified nine Iranian nuclear scientists who were assassinated in covert operations targeting Tehran’s atomic program.
The scientists killed had decades of cumulative experience in the development of nuclear weapons. The scientists include Fereydoun Abbasi and Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari Daryani, experts in nuclear engineering; Akbar Motalebi Zadeh, an expert in chemical engineering; Saeed Barji, a materials engineering expert; physics experts Mohammad Mahdi Tehranshi, Mansour Asgari, and Amir Hassan Fakhahi; Abd al-Hamid Minoushehr, a reactor physics expert; and Ali Bakhouei Katirimi, a mechanics expert.
The military stated these scientists had played key roles in advancing Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities. The list includes experts in nuclear engineering, physics, chemical engineering, and reactor physics, among other critical fields.
The IDF says that it has killed nine Iranian nuclear scientists and experts. Previously, the Israeli military said it killed six during the initial wave of strikes it launched against Iran on Thursday night.
Israel now says the nine were killed “at the beginning” of the operation.
Separately, an Israeli military official has said the Esfahan and Natanz nuclear sites have been significantly damaged in strikes, according to reports from the Reuters news agency.
The IDF’s disclosure appears to be a strategic move, underscoring Israel’s determination to cripple Iran’s nuclear ambitions even as direct conflict between the two nations escalates.
The official tells Reuters that over 150 targets in Iran have been attacked. Most drones and missiles that have been launched towards Israel have been intercepted, the official says.
Meanwhile, Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom and France not to help Israel stop Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, according to Reuters news agency, citing Iranian state media.
Reports say that Tehran would target military bases and ships located in the region if the three countries provide support to Israel.
