New Israeli strikes hit Tehran as Iran warns that U.S. involvement would risk ‘all-out war’

DUBAI United Arab Emirates AP Israeli warplanes pounded Iran s capital overnight and into Wednesday as Iran launched a small barrage of missiles at Israel with no reports of casualties An Iranian official warned Wednesday that that any U S intervention in the conflict would hazard all-out war Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei delivered the warning in an interview with Al Jazeera English saying any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region He did not elaborate but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran s weapons The U S has threatened a massive response to any attack The latest Israeli strikes hit a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components the Israeli military mentioned It mentioned it had intercepted missiles overnight as Iran s retaliatory barrages diminish Israel s blistering attacks on Iran s nuclear campaign and military sites began with a surprise bombardment on Friday A Washington-based Iranian human rights group declared at least people including civilians have been killed and more than wounded Iran has fired particular missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes that have killed at least people in Israel and wounded hundreds Particular have hit apartment buildings in central Israel causing heavy damage and air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on It has not explained the decline but it comes after Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles All eyes are on Washington where President Donald Trump initially distanced himself from the Israeli attacks but has hinted at greater U S involvement saying he wants something much bigger than a ceasefire The U S has also sent more warplanes to the region Casualties mount in Iran The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists declared it had identified of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and as guard personnel The group which also provided detailed casualty figures during protests over the death of Mahsa Amini crosschecks local reports against a arrangement of sources it has developed in the country Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past Its last update issued Monday put the death toll at people killed and others wounded Shops have been closed across Iran s capital Tehran including in its famed Grand Bazaar as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaught A major explosion could be heard around a m in Tehran Wednesday morning following other explosions that boomed earlier in the predawn darkness Bureaucrats in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks which has become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensified At least one strike appeared to target Tehran s eastern neighborhood of Hakimiyeh where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy No signs of backing down Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution had made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing Trump has declared Israel s campaign came after a -day window he set for the talks Iran long has insisted its nuclear campaign was peaceful though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of U S intelligence agencies have stated they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb As the conflict entered a sixth day neither side indicated signs of backing down We will show the Zionists no mercy Iran s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared in a post on his official X account A storm is passing over Tehran Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted This is how dictatorships collapse Trump demands Iranian surrender Trump demanded UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER in a post on social media and warned Khamenei that the U S knows where he is hiding but that there were no plans to kill him at least not for now Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the evolving situation over the phone on Tuesday according to a White House official Iran offered no immediate response to the president s posts but the country s military leaders vowed that Israel would soon see more attacks The operations carried out so far have been solely for the purpose of warning and deterrence Gen Abdul Rahim Mousavi the commander in chief of Iran s army revealed in a video The punishment operation will be carried out soon Israel welcomes first repatriation flights Israelis began returning to the country on flights for the first time since the country s international airport shut down at the start of the conflict Two flights from Larnaca Cyprus landed at Tel Aviv s Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday morning revealed Lisa Dvir an airport spokesperson Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad The conflict has disrupted flight patterns across the region