Explosions were heard in Tehran early Wednesday as Israeli warplanes pounded Iran’s capital overnight and into Wednesday. Iran launched a small barrage of missiles at Israel with no reports of casualties.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry warned Wednesday that any American intervention in the ongoing Israeli strikes targeting his country would spark “an all-out war" in the region.
The latest Israeli strikes hit a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said.
Here’s the latest:
US moving military aircraft to European bases
Overnight, the United States moved air force refueling tankers and C17s to European bases in Prestwick, Scotland, and Aviano in Italy, according to Aurora Intel, a group that reviews open source information in real time in the Middle East.
This comes as the U.S. is shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel from Iranian attacks as President Donald Trump warns Tehran to step back from the conflict.
On Tuesday, the U.S. relocated a dozen F-16s from the Italian base to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, said the group.
Iran’s supreme leader warns US that joining Israeli strikes will ‘result in irreparable damage for them’
Iran’s supreme leader has warned the United States that joining the Israeli strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.”
The comments by 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came in a statement read out by a state television anchor against a still image of the leader. It wasn’t clear why Khamenei did not appear himself on screen, as he has done earlier since the Israeli attacks began on Friday.
“Any military involvement by the U.S. in this field will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage for them,” the statement said.
Israel says its aircraft destroyed five Iranian attack helicopters
Israel’s military said it has destroyed five Iranian AH-1 attack helicopters at a base in western Iran in the Kermanshah area.
The Israelis published black-and-white video of the bombing destroying the helicopters.
Iran did not immediately comment.
Iran under the shah purchased some 200 of the Bell AH-1 SuperCobras, which remain in service as Iran is sanctioned internationally and broadly unable to purchase new weaponry or parts.
Tehran’s streets are mostly empty
Streets in Iran’s capital, Tehran, again were deserted Wednesday amid the Israeli attacks.
Occasional cars and men on scooters sped past the closed shops and stores.
Hundreds of Pakistanis in Iran flee conflict
Iranian ambassador derides Trump's comments calling for Iran to surrender
Iran’s ambassador in Geneva is deriding as “hostile” and “unwarranted” U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Ambassador Ali Bahreini told reporters the Israeli campaign “has not been able to bring big damage to our nuclear facilities” because it had taken precautions to protect them.
Bahreini insisted that Iran has no intention to produce nuclear weapons, a top concern for Israeli authorities. He said “we will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”
The ambassador rejected any talk of a “setback” on Iran’s nuclear research and technological activities caused by Israel’s military action, saying “our scientists will continue their work.”
Iranian officials acknowledge loss of a major radar system
Both the semiofficial Fars and ISNA news agencies reported Wednesday that a replacement system had been installed to replace its Soubashi radar site in western Iran.
The original Soubashi radar, located in the heights of Kaboudarahang County in Iran’s Hamedan province, played a crucial role in Iran’s air defense network, providing extensive coverage for western, northwestern, and southwestern Iran.
Hamedan has been repeatedly targeted in Israeli strikes since Israel’s campaign began Friday.
IAEA confirms Israel struck sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program around Tehran
“The IAEA has information that two centrifuge production facilities in Iran, the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Center, were hit,” the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote on the social platform X.
Karaj is a city just outside of Tehran.
“At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested,” it added. “At Karaj, two buildings were destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured.”
Iranian ambassador says country to ‘respond strongly’
A top Iranian diplomat says his country will “respond strongly” to Israel’s “aggression” and will do so likewise against the United States if U.S. forces join the conflict between the rival Middle East powers as it moved into a sixth day on Wednesday.
Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador in Geneva, sought to project a defiant message from Tehran and defended its nuclear program as purely peaceful and designed for civilian use at a long-planned news conference with the United Nations press corps in the Swiss city.
Iranian FM spokesman issues warning
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry issued a warning Wednesday that an American intervention in the ongoing Israeli strikes targeting his country would spark “an all-out war.”
Esmail Baghaei made the comments in an interview live on Al Jazeera English. It was his first in the ongoing conflict.
“I think any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region with very, very bad consequences for the whole international community,” Baghaei said.
Baghaei’s comments suggested that Iran believes that Gulf Arab countries wouldn’t allow the U.S. to launch attacks from any bases in their countries.
However, the U.S. has aircraft carriers and long-range bombers it could employ for any attack.
Asked if he thought the U.S. could control Israel, Baghaei grimaced and said “Not really.”
China's Xi calls for de-escalation ‘as soon as possible’
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East “as soon as possible” and said China is “deeply worried as Israel’s military operation against Iran has caused a sudden escalation of tensions in the Middle East.”
Xi, on a visit to the Kazakh capital Astana late Tuesday, added that China “opposes any actions that infringe upon sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries.”
He added that “China is ready to work with all parties to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East.”
China has already called on all its nationals to leave Iran, with whom it has long maintained close trade and political ties.