Escalation transforms conflict into war

Tehran. Israel and Iran launched new attacks on Sunday, June 15, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns about a broader regional conflict. Both militaries urged civilians on the other side to take precautions against further attacks.

Israel launched renewed attacks against military targets for the fourth consecutive night early Monday morning after bombing the capital, the holy city of Mashhad (northeast).

Iran, in turn, responded with new missile launches, according to the Israeli military, which assured that its defense system was working to repel the threat.

In Iran, Israeli attacks have left 224 dead since Friday and more than 1,000 injured, the Health Ministry reported Sunday.

On the Israeli side, 13 people were killed and 380 injured following the Iranian offensive, according to police and emergency services.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a woman died in western Syria after a drone, likely Iranian, crashed.

"Iran will pay a very high price for the murder of civilians, women and children," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a balcony overlooking bombed-out apartments that killed six people in Bat Yam, a town south of Tel Aviv.

In this city, shocked residents gathered to survey the damage, while many Israelis prepared for another sleepless night, unsure of what might happen next.

"It's terrible (...) People are losing their lives and their homes," said Shem, 29, whose house was shaken overnight when a missile hit a nearby apartment tower.

Iran's Recommendation

The Iranian military told Israeli residents to leave the vicinity of "vital areas" for their safety.

"Do not stay or travel near these vital areas," an Iranian military spokesman said in a video broadcast on state television around the time Iran fired a new barrage of missiles toward Israel.

On the fourth day of its offensive, Israel said Monday morning that it was attacking surface-to-surface missile sites in central Iran.

"We are acting against this threat from our airspace and from Iranian airspace," said Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the army, on the social network X.

Hours later, the Israeli army identified missiles launched from Iran at its territory, and AFP journalists in Jerusalem reported hearing explosions in the city.

The military also announced the destruction of an Iranian refueling plane at Mashhad Airport, as well as targets in Tehran, including the so-called Defensive Research and Innovation Organization, considered the heart of Iran's nuclear weapons project.

In Tehran, state television reported the deaths of at least five people in a residential building.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused Israel of deliberately attacking one of its buildings, leaving several people injured.

Israel “will not be habitable”

The conflict began on Friday when the Israeli military launched an unprecedented attack on Iran with the stated goal of preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

After decades of proxy warfare and targeted operations, this is the first time the two countries have engaged in such intense military confrontation.

The missile launch was accompanied by harsh threats from both sides.

A senior Iranian military official, Colonel Reza Sayyad, spokesman for the armed forces, promised a "devastating" response and warned that Israel would soon be "uninhabitable."

Israel's massive air campaign against Iran has killed senior Iranian regime officials, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards and the army chief of staff, as well as nine nuclear scientists.

The intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards was killed on Sunday along with two other officers in a bombing, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Target: Natanz

Israel accuses Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies, while defending its right to develop a civilian nuclear program.

"If the aggression stops, our response will stop," said the Iranian foreign minister, accusing Israel of trying to "derail" the nuclear negotiations with the United States that began in April.

Iran informed Qatari and Omani mediators yesterday that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while under Israeli attack, an official familiar with the talks told Reuters on Sunday.

Israel's attacks targeted, among others, the Natanz uranium enrichment center in the center of the country, the surface part of which was destroyed, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to Netanyahu, in an interview on Fox News on Sunday, the Israeli military destroyed "the main facility at Natanz, the main uranium enrichment plant" in the country.

It's not an operation, it's war.