1 week ago
3
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s superior aboriginal Wednesday a time aft U.S. President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender.”
As the U.S. sent warplanes to the Middle East, Trump made a bid of statements astir the conflict, including informing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the U.S. knows wherever helium is hiding but that determination were nary plans to termination him “at slightest not for now.”
His statements fueled disorder astir the U.S.'s relation successful the struggle arsenic Tehran residents fly their homes connected the sixth time of Israel’s aerial run aimed astatine Iran’s subject and atomic program.
Israel asserts its sweeping battle is indispensable to forestall Iran from getting immoderate person to gathering an atomic weapon. The strikes person killed astatine slightest 224 radical successful Iran.
Iran has retaliated by launching immoderate 400 missiles and hundreds of drones astatine Israel. So far, 24 radical person been killed successful Israel.
The struggle erupted arsenic Israel continues to combat successful the Gaza Strip, wherever determination person been near-daily shootings since past week adjacent hubs wherever hopeless Palestinians are being directed to cod food.
Israel hammers Tehran
A large detonation could beryllium heard astir 5 a.m. successful Tehran Wednesday morning, pursuing different explosions that boomed earlier successful the predawn darkness.
Authorities successful Iran offered nary acknowledgement of the attacks, which has go progressively communal arsenic the Israeli airstrike run has intensified since they began connected Friday.
At slightest 1 onslaught appeared to people Tehran’s eastbound vicinity of Hakimiyeh, wherever the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.
The Israelis earlier warned they could onslaught a vicinity southbound of Mehrabad International Airport, which includes residential neighborhoods, subject installations, pharmaceutical companies and concern firms.
Israel besides claimed that it had killed Iran’s Gen. Ali Shadmani, whom Israel described arsenic the country’s astir elder remaining subject commander, successful Tehran.
Shadmani was small known successful the state earlier being appointed past week to a chief-of-staff-like relation arsenic caput of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters pursuing the sidesplitting of his predecessor, Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, successful an Israeli strike.
Trump demands Iranian surrender
Trump near the Group of Seven acme successful Canada a time aboriginal to woody with the struggle betwixt Israel and Iran, telling reporters: “I’m not looking astatine a ceasefire. We’re looking astatine amended than a ceasefire.”
When asked to explain, helium said the U.S. wanted to spot “a existent end” to the struggle that could impact Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not excessively overmuch successful the temper to negotiate.”
But helium besides indicated that diplomatic talks remained an option, and said helium could nonstop Vice President JD Vance and peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff to conscionable with the Iranians.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is shifting subject craft and warships into and astir the Middle East to support Israel from Iranian attacks and respond to Iran's threats to people U.S. subject installations.
Satellite images analyzed Wednesday by The Associated Press appeared to amusement nary vessels anchored disconnected the office of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet successful Bahrain. Dispersing ships is simply a communal information method employed by navies astir the satellite successful times of trouble.
Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke astir the evolving concern implicit the telephone connected Tuesday, according to a White House authoritative who was not authorized to remark publically and spoke connected the information of anonymity.
Iran vows further attacks
Iran offered nary contiguous effect to the president's posts, but the country’s subject leaders vowed that Israel would soon spot much attacks.
“The operations carried retired truthful acold person been solely for the intent of informing and deterrence,” Gen. Abdul Rahim Mousavi, the commandant successful main of Iran’s army, said successful a video. “The punishment cognition volition beryllium carried retired soon.”
Israel’s subject warned the colonisation to enactment adjacent to shelters arsenic Iran fired caller salvos of missiles Wednesday, but officials said astir were intercepted and Israel's rescue services had nary contiguous reports of injuries. Sirens blared successful confederate Israel, including successful the godforsaken municipality of Dimona, the bosom of Israel’s never-acknowledged atomic arms program.
The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy successful Jerusalem volition stay closed done Friday.
Iran has fired less missiles successful each of its barrages, with a conscionable fistful launched into Wednesday. It has not explained the driblet successful missiles fired, but the diminution comes aft Israel targeted galore Iranian launchers.
Shops closed, lines for state successful Iran’s capital
Trump warned connected societal media that “everyone should instantly evacuate Tehran," echoing an earlier Israeli subject telephone for immoderate 330,000 residents of a downtown vicinity determination to evacuate.
Tehran is 1 of the largest cities successful the Middle East, with astir 10 cardinal people, astir equivalent to Israel's full population. People person been fleeing since hostilities began.
Asked wherefore helium had urged the evacuation, Trump said: “I conscionable privation radical to beryllium safe.”
Downtown Tehran emptied retired aboriginal Tuesday, with galore shops shuttered, arsenic good arsenic the past Grand Bazaar, which has closed lone successful times of crisis, specified arsenic during the 2022 anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic.
On the roads retired of Tehran to the west, postulation stood bumper to bumper.
Signs that Iran is restricting entree to extracurricular world
Iranian authorities appeared to beryllium curbing the public's entree to the extracurricular world. Phone and net work was disrupted, with landline phones incapable to person oregon dial planetary calls. NetBlocks, an net monitoring group, reported that it had detected a important driblet successful net postulation from the country.
Iran’s Cyber Security Command acknowledged the net restrictions and successful a connection carried by Iranian authorities tv said the determination was meant to halt enemies from “continuing to exploit infrastructure to transportation retired cyber and subject operations."
Iran has restricted important communications tools successful past nationwide protests and during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
International websites appeared to beryllium blocked, but section websites were functioning, apt signaling that Iran had turned connected the alleged “halal net,” its locally controlled mentation of the net aimed astatine limiting what the nationalist tin see.
Iran's authorities TV connected Tuesday urged the nationalist to region the messaging app WhatsApp from their cellphones, alleging without grounds that the app gathered idiosyncratic accusation to nonstop to Israel.
In a statement, WhatsApp said it was acrophobic that "these mendacious reports volition beryllium an excuse for our services to beryllium blocked astatine a clip erstwhile radical request them the most.”
Nuclear bureau reports much harm to enrichment site
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it believed that Israel’s archetypal aerial attacks connected Iran’s Natanz enrichment tract had straight affected the facility’s underground centrifuge facility.
Satellite imagery collected aft Friday’s attacks showed “additional elements that bespeak nonstop impacts connected the underground enrichment halls,” the watchdog said.
The IAEA earlier reported that Israeli strikes had destroyed an above-ground enrichment hallway astatine Natanz and knocked retired electrical instrumentality that powered the facility, which is 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Most of Iran's enrichment takes spot underground to support from airstrikes.
Israel has struck Natanz repeatedly and claims to person wounded its underground facilities, which experts measure incorporate 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 60%.
Iran maintains its atomic programme is peaceful, and the U.S. and others person assessed that Tehran has not had an organized effort to prosecute a atomic limb since 2003. But the IAEA has repeatedly warned that the state has capable enriched uranium to marque respective atomic bombs should it take to bash so.
While Netanyahu claimed Monday that Israeli strikes connected Iran's atomic sites person acceptable the country's atomic programme backmost a “very, precise agelong time," Israel has not been capable to scope Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is built heavy into a mountainside.
Hitting Fordo would apt necessitate the U.S.'s ain B-2 stealth bombers to driblet bunker-busting bombs. The 30,000-pound (14,000-kilogram) GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator uses its value and sheer kinetic unit to scope profoundly buried targets.
___
Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat successful Tehran, Iran; Melanie Lidman successful Tel Aviv, Israel; and Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani successful Washington contributed to this report.
