Israel bombards Tehran, setting oil facilities ablaze

The sky over Tehran was engulfed in smoke and flame Sunday after the city’s main gas depot was struck during Israel’s latest wave of attacks on Iran.

The two countries launched renewed waves of attacks on each other late Saturday, as leaders of both countries vowed to intensify their assault despite international pleas for de-escalation.

Iran’s Oil Ministry said that the gas depot, the Shahran fuel depot, was hit and set on fire. An official with the ministry said the depots at the facility, which has 11 storage tanks, were exploding one after another and threatened to significantly damage residential neighbourhoods in the area. A resident whose high-rise apartment is directly across from the depot said the force of the explosions felt like an earthquake, and multiple witnesses said the fire was spreading and lighting up the mountains around Tehran.

Israeli air defense systems late Saturday were intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles as explosions lit up the sky over Jerusalem. Images on Israeli television indicated that many of the missiles fired in the latest barrage from Iran were also aimed for the first time at the northern city of Haifa.

At least six people are known to have been killed in Israel in the strikes overnight, after a wave of Iranian missiles also struck cities along the central coast near Tel Aviv, according to the country’s national emergency service. At least 100 people have been injured.

The Israeli military announced on social media that its air force was attacking military targets in Iran, as Iranian state news media also confirmed that Tehran had launched its own new round of missile attacks on Israel.

The days-old conflict is the most intense fighting in decades between the two heavily armed countries, and it has stirred anxiety over the prospect of an increasingly deadly conflict that could draw in the United States and other major powers.

In sweeping attacks that started early Friday, Israel had focused on Iranian nuclear sites, air defenses and military targets. But earlier Saturday, it went a step further, targeting an energy industry that is vital to Iran’s economy, according to Iran’s Oil Ministry. Israeli strikes also appeared to focus on Tehran, the Iranian capital, taking out the city’s air defenses.

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesperson, said its forces had achieved “freedom of action” in the skies over Tehran, indicating they could strike targets without expecting major interference from Iran.

The Israeli strikes have killed more than 70 people, including six top security chiefs, and damaged Iran’s main nuclear site at Natanz.

Iran, in turn, has launched barrages of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, targeting what it says are military assets, but with less apparent success. At least three people have been killed and dozens wounded in the attacks.

Israel has conducted roughly 150 strikes on Iran over two days, while Iranian forces have fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israeli territory in addition to scores of drones, according to an Israeli military official.

Here’s what else to know:

Israeli attack on the Houthis: In an apparent bid to cripple one of Iran’s strongest-remaining proxy forces in the region, Israel targeted a meeting of Houthi leadership in Yemen on Saturday night, according to Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss operational details.

Nuclear talks scuttled: The salvos of missiles scuttled talks between the United States and Iran on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. The talks had been scheduled to resume in Oman on Sunday, but US and Omani officials said they had been canceled.

Washington’s view: The United States’ possible role in the spiraling conflict remains unclear. While Israeli officials had hoped the Trump administration would participate in a joint attack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied US involvement in the strikes. But President Donald Trump also did not call for Israel to rein in its assault, and US officials said they were moving warships and other military assets in the Middle East to help protect Israel and US troops in the region.

Top Iranians killed: Iran’s armed forces issued a statement Saturday saying Israel had killed two additional senior military commanders, bringing to six the total number of Iran’s top military chain of command killed since Friday. Ali Shamkhani, who had been overseeing the nuclear talks with the United States, had also been killed officials said.