Israel says Tehran 'no longer immune' to air raids

Israeli emergency services said Saturday that an Iranian missile which struck a two-storey residential building in Western Galilee killed one woman and injured at least seven people.

The Magen David Adom agency said its teams confirmed "the death of a young woman in her 20s" after the impact, which also caused damage to nearby houses.

"Seven injured are being taken to hospitals," the statement added.

The woman's death means four people in Israel have been killed since the country launched Operation Rising Lion against Iran, MDA said.

The emergency services added that rescue workers were still working the scene to locate and search for additional survivors.

Israel launched a fresh attack on Iran's capital Tehran on Saturday evening, Iranian media reported.

Explosions were heard and air defense systems were activated in Tehran's south, according to the Tasnim news agency.

There were also unconfirmed reports that an Israeli drone had been shot down.

In Israel, meanwhile the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it was carrying out air strikes on Iran's capital while also working to intercept Iranian missiles fired at Israel.

"While the IDF is operating to intercept missiles launched from Iran, the IAF is currently striking military targets in Tehran," IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said on X.

"Millions of Israelis are running to shelter in northern Israel due to projectile fire from Iran," the IDF said in a separate statement.

In a post on Telegram, the IDF said "sirens sounded in several areas across Israel" after missiles were fired from Iran.

Talks between Iran and the United States on Tehran's nuclear program scheduled for this weekend have been canceled, Oman's foreign minister said.

Oman has been mediating between the two countries during previous rounds of nuclear negotiations which began in April.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran would be in "great danger" if the negotiations fail. 

"The Iran US talks scheduled to be held in Muscat this Sunday will not now take place. But diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace," Badr Albusaidi said on X.

The massive escalation in recent days between Israel and Iran has thrown the future of the negotiations into doubt.

The US, Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of wanting to build a nuclear weapon and of trying to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels.

While Iran insists that its nuclear programme is only for peaceful, civilian purposes, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state that is enriching uranium to such high levels.

Israel views the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat, while the Iranian leadership does not recognize the state of Israel and regularly threatens to destroy it.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Royal Air Force (RAF) jets were being deployed to the Middle East.

The move comes after Iran threatened to target British, French and US bases if they help stop Iranian strikes on Israel.

"We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support," Starmer told reporters on board his plane to Ottawa, where he will attend a G7 summit starting Sunday.

The UK already has fighter jets in the Middle East as part of its operations against the "Islamic State" (IS) group.

Starmer told the reporters on the flight that he would continue urging de-escalation of the conflict between long-time enemies Israel and Iran, adding that the "intense" developments of the past few days would be discussed with his G7 partners.

He declined to provide "precise details" because the "situation is ongoing and developing."

"Our constant message is de-escalate, and therefore everything we're doing, all discussions we're having are to do with de-escalation," Starmer added.

The prime minister also refused to be drawn on whether the UK would intervene in the conflict directly, saying "I'm not going to get into that."

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

Macron said he urged Iran to exercise the "utmost restraint to avoid escalation" in its conflict with Israel.

The French president also said Iran's nuclear program is "a serious concern" which must be resolved through talks.

Recent negotiations between the US and Iran failed to yield an agreement to curb Iranian uranium enrichment, and the International Atomic Enegy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday slammed Iran for failing to comply with its non-proliferation obligations.

"I therefore invited President Pezeshkian to return swiftly to the negotiating table to reach an agreement — the only viable path to de-escalation," Macron said.

"We stand ready to contribute and to mobilize all our efforts to achieve that goal," he added.

In the wake of Israel's strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on Friday morning, Macron had said France "does not want a Middle East with a nuclear-armed Iran."

Given the "serious risk of destabilization across the region," he also called for France's diplomatic facilities and citizens in Iran and the wider region "not to be targeted under any circumstances."
          
Macron said he also demanded the "immediate release" of French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who the president said have been "held hostage by the Iranian regime in unacceptable conditions for over three years."

The couple have been held in Iran on charges of espionage since May 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke on the telephone on Saturday, the Kremlin said, to discuss the renewed hostilities between Israel and Iran.

The two leaders also discussed stalled efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia invaded its neighbor.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin had condemned Israel's attacks on Iran, and that the two presidents had not ruled out reviving negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Russia and Iran are strategic and military allies. 

Russia is Iran's main supplier of weaponry, while Israel is the biggest recipient of US military aid.

After Israel struck Iranian nuclear facilities this week, Trump appeared to imply that the strikes had been launched the day after a 60-day deadline for Iran to come to an agreement on its nuclear activities had passed, saying he had given Tehran "chance after chance."

Trump also urged Iran to "make a deal" before "there is nothing left" of the country, warning of more Israeli strikes to come that will be "even more brutal."

Iranian media on Saturday said there had been two explosions at refineries after Israeli drone attacks.

"An Israeli drone hit one of the South Pars Phase 14 refineries, causing a massive explosion and fire in the refinery," the Tasnim news agency said.

The Fajr Jam refinery was also targeted, Tasnim reported, adding that the National Iranian Gas Company was investigating the severity of the incident.

A later, unconfirmed report by Tasnim said initial investigations indicate that the explosions were caused by "collisions between hostile small aircraft."

The South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar, is the largest in the world.

Iran said it had partially halted gas production due to fires.

If confirmed, it would mark the first Israeli strike on Iran's oil and gas sector and would represent a major escalation in the conflict.

Oil prices have already shot up by 9% in the wake of the escalation.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has urged both Israel and Iran to "deescalate" and "look for a way out of another military confrontation."

Speaking in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan, Wadephul warned of "unpredictable consequences" should the situation in the Middle East continue to escalate.

"This region needs peace, not more military conflict," he said. "This is why I would like to appeal to all: it's not too late."

While reiterating Germany's responsibility for Israel's security and existence, Wadephul nevertheless said that Berlin was trying to "influence our Israeli partners in this regard, too."

Saudi Arabia, for its part, has condemned Israel's ongoing attacks against Iran as a "clear breach of international law."

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has assured Israel of military support in the case of further Iranian retaliatory strikes, but ruled out French involvement in any offensive Israeli operations.

The Iraqi government has requested that neighboring Iran does not target US facilities in Iraq as part of its response to continuing Israeli air strikes, a senior security official told the AFP news agency on Saturday.

"The request was made. They promised us positive things," said the official, adding that Tehran has shown "understanding" with regards to Baghdad's request.

Having once fought a bloody war in the 1980s, Iraq and Iran are now close allies — but Baghdad is also a strategic partner of the United States, which has some 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq as part of an anti-jihadist coalition.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that Washington has nothing to do with the latest Israeli attacks on Iran, but Tehran considers the US its arch-enemy and generally sees the "Great Satan" as fundamentally in league with Israel.

Even prior to the current escalation, which began early Friday with a series of Israeli attacks on military and nuclear sites in Iran, Tehran had threatened to strike US military bases in the region in the event of a conflict triggered by the failure of nuclear talks with Washington.

Ever since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, Iran-aligned groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have targeted US forces in Iraq, Syria and the Red Sea with rockets and drones.

The United States on Wednesday announced it was reducing staffing at its Baghdad embassy, citing security reasons.

In the internet age, every major world event seems to come accompanied by a plethora of mis- and disinformation, and the current escalating conflict between Israel and Iran is no exception.

Read the DW fact-checking team's report on some of the more egregious fakes that have been running about on social media following Israel's attack on Iran.

The Israeli military claimed on Saturday that its air force had established "aerial freedom of action" over western regions of Iran, as far as the capital Tehran.

"Tehran is no longer immune," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told journalists, adding that the air force "launched a massive strike involving more than 70 fighter jets, targeting objectives in Tehran" overnight.

The night before, Israel said around 200 fighter planes had been involved in a first wave of strikes on targets across Iran.

Also on Saturday, Iranian media reported that two more members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard had been killed in an Israeli strike.

The Israel-Iran conflict has put Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, in a tricky bind.

In recent years, Riyadh has improved its ties with both countries, despite tense relations in the past.

In addition, the countries on the Arabian Peninsula lack the effective defense system that Israel possesses, making them vulnerable to attack.

Read the full story on how the hostilities between Israel and Iran are impacting the wider region.

The Israeli military has said that seven Israeli soldiers were injured as a result of an Iranian missile launched overnight, but it did not say where the missile hit.

All seven soldiers were taken to hospital with light injuries and have already been discharged home.
 

Three more Iranian nuclear scientists have been declared killed in Israeli attacks, the semi-official Tasnim
news agency and state television reported on Saturday.

The scientists were identified as Ali Bakaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeid Borji, Tasnim said. It was not immediately clear when the three were killed.

Six other nuclear scientists were reported by Iran to have been killed in strikes by Israel early on Friday.

Israel has sought to justify its attacks on Iran by pointing to the country's nuclear program, which Israel says is aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

Iran has denied that it wants nuclear weapons, although the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday condemned Iran for its lack of compliance.

Israel is widely believed to already possess several nuclear weapons, something which it has never publicly admitted.

Iran moved equipment and materials at the Fordo nuclear facility to secure areas ahead of an attack on
the site by Israel, the spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Behrus Kamalvandi, said on Saturday in quotes carried by state news agency IRNA.

The facility, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran, is located deep underground and is equipped with anti-aircraft guns.

The site houses centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, among other functions.

Iranian authorities did not inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, of the facility's existence until 2009, two years after it was built. Intelligence agencies from the US and its Western allies had previously been aware it had been constructed.