Iran has threatened to intensify the already brutal conflict over Tehran's nuclear program by warning the US, UK, and France that their military installations and ships will be targeted if they assist in preventing Iran's missile and drone retribution for Israel's attack.
According to press sources, US authorities have stated that US forces have already assisted in shooting down Iranian drones and missiles as they approached Israel, and Donald Trump has stated that the US will assist in defending Israel. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, added on Friday that his nation would support Israel in its defense against Iranian retaliation.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has emphasized the need for de-escalation, and the UK government has stated that its soldiers have not given Israel any military support.
While the majority of the missiles and drones that Tehran shoots at Israel are intercepted before they reach their targets, Tehran is attempting to dissuade the West from supporting Israel's defense. But carrying out the threat, which was made via state media on Saturday, would be a huge risk for Iran, bringing western forces into the war at a time when it is already struggling due to constant Israeli bombing.
"No government proxy or independent actor should target American citizens, American bases, or other American infrastructure in the region. The implications for Iran would be grave," US envoy McCoy Pitt said during a UN security council meeting on Friday.
Iran attempted to retaliate with missile and drone salvoes as the aerial war entered its second day on Saturday, while Israeli planes concentrated their bombing raids on Tehran. Iran promised to make Israel regret its surprise attack, and Israel seemed intent on destroying Iran's nuclear program.
At least three persons were murdered and numerous others were injured in Iran's retaliation missile and drone attacks on Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was forewarned by Israel Katz, the country's defense minister, that "Tehran will burn" if it continues to fire missiles at Israeli people.
Iran has launched more than 200 drones and fired almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israel so far, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), although the vast majority of these have been intercepted.
According to the IDF, Israeli jets have dropped hundreds of explosives on 150 sites inside Iran since the war began. Several dozen fighter jets targeted the Iranian capital's air defenses early on Saturday. On Saturday, an IDF official declared that "the aerial road to Tehran is effectively open" and that those defenses had been mostly suppressed.
A fighter jet hangar at Tehran's Mehrabad airport was also hit, according to Iranian official television. According to Iran's state television, an attack on a Tehran housing complex claimed the lives of about 60 individuals, including 20 children.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the UN Security Council, reported on Friday that the Israeli attacks had killed 78 individuals and injured over 320 others, the majority of them were civilians. Nine nuclear experts and some of Iran's top generals were among the dead, as the Israeli attack took Tehran off guard.
The targeted scientists were the "those who were key sources of knowledge, the main forces propelling the nuclear program," according to an IDF official.
Israel denied bombing Iran's second enrichment site, the uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, while the Iranian administration claimed there was only minor damage there. The IDF said it caused "severe damage" to the plant at Natanz on Friday. Although the underground chambers of the Natanz plant appeared to be undamaged, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) determined that the above-ground portion had been destroyed.
According to an IAEA investigation, the Natanz facility had chemical and radioactive contamination as a result of the strikes, but the contamination was controllable and there was no indication of increased radiation levels in the vicinity of the site. Iran also claimed that its nuclear station in Isfahan, which includes a fuel manufacturing unit, a uranium conversion plant, and other facilities, had been attacked.
Israel was reminded by the IAEA that assaults on nuclear sites may result in "radioactive emissions with grave repercussions" and were unlawful and against the UN charter.
Israel justified its attack on Israel by claiming that Iran was working on weaponization—the process of assembling parts into a warhead—and that Iran was moving dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Neither IAEA reports nor US intelligence assessments make that assertion.
More information on Israel's accusation was provided by an IDF official on Saturday. He stated that Iranian technicians had been developing a nuclear bomb's explosive trigger mechanism, with some of that work taking place in Isfahan.
"We have observed unambiguous intelligence that they are moving ahead at a rapid pace, which can only be explained by a nuclear bomb," the official stated.
While the IDF claimed to have stopped incoming drones in the skies over the Dead Sea, Israelis in Tel Aviv and other cities spent the early hours of Saturday in shelters as a fresh round of Iranian missiles made their way their way. Later in the morning, sirens sounded in northern Israel, close to the Sea of Galilee, and in the West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, a projectile fired by Houthi forces in Yemen—who are Iranian allies—killed five Palestinians, including three children, in the West Bank, the greatest casualties from the incoming rockets.
Three Israelis were also killed in the first 24 hours of the battle, two in Rishon LeZion and one in adjacent Tel Aviv. Numerous others were injured, and numerous buildings were damaged.
On the third day of a communications blackout following Israeli forces cutting a vital cable, there were allegations from Gaza that Israel had shot numerous Palestinians attempting to reach food distribution stations, although it was difficult to verify the specifics.
Iranian and US diplomats were scheduled to meet in Oman to explore a peaceful resolution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program before to Israel's attack early Friday morning.
Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, claimed that the negotiations had "become worthless." He refrained from announcing the cancellation of the negotiations. He was quoted by Iran's judiciary-run Mizan news agency as saying: "It is still not obvious what we decide regarding Sunday's negotiations."
On Saturday morning, there was every indication that the fight was far from ended. Overnight, Khamenei promised that Israel would be brought to "ruin," while Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, declared that many more Israeli attacks were "on the way."
After his predecessor was murdered in Israel's attack, Mohammad Pakpour, the newly appointed chief of the Revolutionary Guards, promised to open "the gates of hell" in retribution, putting the Middle East at risk of a full-scale conflict with an unclear length.
On Friday night, the skyline of Tel Aviv was shrouded by columns of smoke rising up from one impact site.
34 persons were hurt Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, according to Israel's ambulance service, with the majority suffering minor wounds. One individual has died, according to the police. On Saturday morning, a direct missile strike on central Israel confirmed the deaths of two more persons.
The IDF and Israeli leadership have maintained that its Rising Lion onslaught against Iran would not end until Tehran's nuclear program, which Netanyahu claimed was close to manufacturing weapons, is completely destroyed.
Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the IAEA, warned of the potentially catastrophic repercussions of such attacks in a speech to the UN security council.
The US's involvement in the Israeli operation was still unclear. Prior to Sunday's scheduled US-Iranian negotiations, Donald Trump had openly pushed Israel to give diplomacy a better opportunity in the lead-up to the Israeli 200-plane attack. The US president called the Israeli attack "great" on Friday and maintained that he had been fully apprised of Israel's plans.
According to a "source familiar with the intelligence" cited by ABC, the US had supplied "exquisite" intelligence and would assist Israel in defending itself if necessary.
