Israel-Iran conflict enters third day with escalating missile strikes, rising death tolls

AP:
Israel and Iran continued exchanging missile strikes for a third consecutive day on Sunday, ignoring international appeals to end hostilities as the conflict intensified with heavy civilian casualties on both sides.
Iran accused Israel of targeting its oil refineries, government offices, and urban centers, reporting that over 220 people have been killed and more than 1,270 injured since the Israeli offensive began on Friday. The death toll includes the head of intelligence for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, along with two other senior commanders.
Meanwhile, Israel said Iran had launched more than 270 missiles toward its territory, 22 of which penetrated its advanced air defense systems and struck residential areas. The strikes killed at least 14 people and injured nearly 400, Israeli authorities said.
The escalating violence disrupted diplomatic efforts, including the cancellation of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that were scheduled to take place in Oman on Sunday. The conflict has raised concerns over the future of Iran’s nuclear program and regional stability.
A U.S. official told the Associated Press that during his presidency, Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel, widely believed to be the region’s only nuclear-armed nation, has said its actions are aimed at stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Widening targets inside Iran
Israel claimed its air raids on Sunday struck key Iranian military and infrastructure sites, including the Defense Ministry, missile bases, and factories involved in air defense manufacturing. Iranian authorities confirmed the deaths of three top generals and acknowledged strikes on energy sites, including a massive blaze at the Shahran oil depot near Tehran and another at a fuel tank south of the capital.
The attacks also damaged the Foreign Ministry and multiple public buildings. Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh shared images of the Foreign Ministry’s damaged offices and library.
Iranian state media broadcast harrowing footage from missile strike sites, including a dust-covered man rescuing a baby and a bloodied woman making an urgent call from a devastated building in central Tehran. Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said 90% of the fatalities were civilians.
Human Rights Activists, a Washington-based advocacy group, claimed a significantly higher death toll than official figures, reporting over 400 deaths and more than 650 injuries in Iran.
To protect civilians, authorities in Tehran announced that metro stations and mosques would begin serving as bomb shelters. Residents faced long queues at gas stations amid reports of panic-fueled evacuations from the capital, although officials denied any fuel shortages.
Explosions were also reported from Mashhad in northeastern Iran, where Israel reportedly struck a refueling aircraft—its deepest incursion into Iranian territory to date.
Casualties mount in Israel
In Israel, air raid sirens rang out across major cities, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. Several Iranian missiles hit residential buildings, bypassing the Iron Dome defense system.
In Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, six people, including two children, were killed when a missile hit a high-rise apartment. Another four people died in Tamra, an Arab-majority town in the north, while 42 others were injured in Rehovot following a separate strike. Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science reported damage to its buildings, though no casualties occurred there.
An oil refinery in Haifa was also damaged, and Israel’s airspace and main international airport remained closed for a third day.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s retaliation would stop if Israel ceased its attacks.
Netanyahu signals regime change possible in Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed growing international pressure to de-escalate the conflict. In an interview with Fox News, he suggested the fighting could lead to regime change in Iran. Netanyahu also claimed, without presenting evidence, that Tehran was planning to provide nuclear weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and U.S. intelligence assessments have said the country has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. However, Tehran has recently stockpiled uranium enriched close to weapons-grade and is believed to have the capacity to build nuclear weapons in months if it chooses.
Despite the violence, a senior U.S. official said Washington remains committed to reviving nuclear negotiations.
The ongoing conflict also unfolds amid Israel’s war in Gaza against Iran-backed Hamas, which began after Hamas’ deadly incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Nuclear infrastructure heavily damaged
New satellite imagery reviewed by AP revealed widespread destruction at Iran’s main uranium enrichment site in Natanz, including several buildings linked to the facility’s power supply. Although the underground centrifuge hall was spared, experts warned that damage to infrastructure could take months—or longer—to repair.
U.N. nuclear watchdog IAEA confirmed Israeli strikes also damaged four buildings at a nuclear research site in Isfahan, including a uranium conversion plant. However, it reported no abnormal radiation levels at either site.
An unnamed Israeli military source said restoring operations at Natanz and Isfahan could take “many months, maybe more.”