Israel strikes Tehran and Beirut as Iran vows ‘complete destruction’ in region
By William Christou in Beirut3 min read
Israel has carried out a wave of airstrikes on Iranian security targets and Hezbollah in Beirut as Tehran threatened the “complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure” as the rapidly escalating war entered its fifth day and reached as far as the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka.
The Israeli military said it had hit buildings in Iran belonging to the Basij, the volunteer police arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and buildings belonging to internal security forces. Police stations and IRGC headquarters in the Kurdish regions of north-western Iran were also razed by strikes, Kurdish media reported.
Iran’s security structures have been instrumental in putting down protest movements in the past, and the US has urged Iranians to overthrow the country’s government. Washington has also reportedly been exploring the possibility of using Kurdish separatist groups to invade parts of Iran and establish a safe zone in the predominantly Kurdish groups in the north-west.
The regional dimension of the conflict continued to expand, as Iran struck Gulf states and Hezbollah fired on Israel and Cyprus. Turkey said Nato air defences had intercepted a ballistic missile heading towards its airspace, and the US said it had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan authorities said at least 80 people had been killed and 23 rescued. There were thought have been 180 people on board.
Drones were also reported near Baghdad airport and explosions heard in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
The death toll in Iran has soared, as estimates of those killed by strikes in the five days of war rose to between 1,045 and 1,500 people.
The Israeli military said it had hit buildings in Iran belonging to the Basij, the volunteer police arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and buildings belonging to internal security forces. Police stations and IRGC headquarters in the Kurdish regions of north-western Iran were also razed by strikes, Kurdish media reported.
Iran’s security structures have been instrumental in putting down protest movements in the past, and the US has urged Iranians to overthrow the country’s government. Washington has also reportedly been exploring the possibility of using Kurdish separatist groups to invade parts of Iran and establish a safe zone in the predominantly Kurdish groups in the north-west.
The regional dimension of the conflict continued to expand, as Iran struck Gulf states and Hezbollah fired on Israel and Cyprus. Turkey said Nato air defences had intercepted a ballistic missile heading towards its airspace, and the US said it had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan authorities said at least 80 people had been killed and 23 rescued. There were thought have been 180 people on board.
Drones were also reported near Baghdad airport and explosions heard in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
The death toll in Iran has soared, as estimates of those killed by strikes in the five days of war rose to between 1,045 and 1,500 people.
The US defence secretary
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, on Wednesday signalled a longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying it could last eight weeks but that the US has the munitions and the equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. “You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.”
It came as the IRGC said it would continue to hit US allies across the region.
“The continued mischief and deception by the United States in the region will come at the cost of the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure,” it said in a statement to state media.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Wednesday condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf states in a call with Tehran’s foreign minister - the first high-level contact since the Islamic republic launched its missile and drone campaign – and accused it of seeking to “harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs.”
Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran’s response since the US and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran over the weekend. Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began.
It came as the IRGC said it would continue to hit US allies across the region.
“The continued mischief and deception by the United States in the region will come at the cost of the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure,” it said in a statement to state media.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Wednesday condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf states in a call with Tehran’s foreign minister - the first high-level contact since the Islamic republic launched its missile and drone campaign – and accused it of seeking to “harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs.”
Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran’s response since the US and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran over the weekend. Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began.
