Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, June 21. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that his country’s nuclear programme is peaceful and his country remains open to diplomacy, but Israel’s attacks must stop first.
In a new phase of Operation True Promise III in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Iranian armed forces fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at the occupied territories.
The eighteenth wave of the historic retaliatory operation started at around 3:10 am local time in Iran, with some videos circulating online showing the night sky over the occupied territories lit up by the Iranian long-range missiles.
Air raid sirens were activated as soon as the missiles arrived, forcing settlers to head back to underground bunkers, where they have been spending most of their time these days.
Israeli media reported massive explosions in the heart of Tel Aviv, indicating that the missiles yet again managed to evade three-tier air defense systems to hit their intended targets.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel’s air defense systems responded.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the military had killed a veteran commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ overseas arm, in a strike in an apartment in Iran’s Qom.
The veteran commander, Saeed Izadi, led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, Katz said in a statement.
22 arrested for links to Israeli spy services
Police in Iran’s Qom province said Saturday that 22 people “linked to Israeli spy services” had been arrested since June 13, Fars news agency reported.
“22 people were identified and arrested on charges of being linked to the Zionist regime’s spy services, disturbing public opinion, and supporting the criminal regime,” the agency stated, citing the head of police intelligence in Iran’s Qom province.
Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site was targeted by Israel, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday, adding that there was no leakage of hazardous materials.
At the same time, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran, the Israeli military said.
Sirens also sounded in southern Israel, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service. An Israeli military official said Iran had fired five ballistic missiles and that there were no immediate indications of any missile impacts.
There were no initial reports of casualties.
The emergency service released images showing a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building in central Israel. Local media reported that the fire was caused by debris from an intercepted missile.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.
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