Key points
- Trump ramps up war rhetoric
- Demands Iran’s “unconditional surrender”
- IRGC claims using first-generation Fateh missiles
ISLAMABAD: Iran and Israel said on Wednesday they carried out strikes on various targets on each other’s territories as the foes traded attacks for a sixth straight day.
The development unfolds as the region anxiously braces for a potentially wider and ruinous conflict.
Early on Wednesday, the Israeli military said new waves of missiles had been launched from Iran. Israeli media outlets reported that the latest salvos triggered sirens across the entire country, including the Tel Aviv area, where explosions and fires were reported.
Fateh missiles
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have used first-generation Fateh missiles during its early Wednesday morning attacks on Israel, according to an IRGC statement shared across Iranian media.
The attacks, according to the IRGC, showed that Iran had “gained complete control over the skies of the occupied territory.”
“Tonight, Fateh’s powerful and maneuverable missiles, passing through the missile defence shield, repeatedly shook the Zionist cowardly haven and sent a message of Iran’s authority to Tel Aviv’s warmongering ally, which is mired in empty fantasies and illusions,” the IRGC statement read, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency and semi-state official media site Tasnim.
“Tonight’s missile attack showed that we have gained complete control over the skies of the occupied territories and that its residents are completely defenseless against Iranian missile attacks.”
“Unconditional surrender”
Hours before, US President Donald Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender”.
The US president insisted Washington has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned Iran that his patience is wearing thin.
Israel said its warplanes targeted the Iranian capital before dawn Wednesday after the military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district for their safety.
Manufacturing sites
The Israeli military later said it struck weapons manufacturing sites and a facility used to make centrifuges in Tehran.
Iran told residents of Tel Aviv to prepare for an attack, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming its hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles were “repeatedly shaking the shelters” in the commercial hub.
“The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles” was carried out, the Guards said in a statement broadcast on state television.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran also sent a “swarm of drones” towards Israel, where the army said it intercepted two over the Dead Sea area.
World powers have scrambled for an offramp, hoping to prevent the conflict from spiralling into a region-engulfing war.
Unprecedented bombing campaign
Despite international alarm, neither side has backed off from the long-range blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
Israel claims its attacks have killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shadmani as well as his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens, according to AFP.
