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The Israeli army attacked the state television building Iranian in Tehran this Monday, which had to briefly interrupt its broadcast, and AFP journalists heard explosions in several sectors of the Iranian capital, on the fourth day of clashes between these two enemy countries.
At the time of the attack, the cameras captured how a presenter from the state-owned channel, who was criticizing Israel's offensive, quickly left the studio amid thick dust and with parts of the roof detaching, according to videos released by Iranian media.
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The conflict began on Friday when the Israeli army launched an unprecedented attack against Iran with the stated aim of preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons. After decades of proxy war and specific operations, this is the first time the two countries have faced each other militarily with such intensity. "We will attack the Iranian dictator everywhere," stated Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country had urged the evacuation of neighbors from an area northeast of Tehran, before bombing "military infrastructures belonging to the Iranian regime." Katz had already warned that Iranian state radio and television (IRIB), located in that affluent area of the capital, was "about to disappear." Iran condemned the bombing as a "war crime" and called on the UN Security Council to act. The Grand Bazaar, Tehran's main market, remained closed this Monday. The city's streets were mostly deserted and almost no businesses opened, except for some grocery stores. Long lines formed in front of gas stations and a vendor said that many people were buying compulsively, and that for example his business ran "out of water reserves".– Iranian missiles against Israel –
For its part, the Israeli army indicated that it detected missiles launched from Iran towards the north of the country, whose inhabitants were called to take shelter. Hours earlier, the Islamic Republic attacked several Israeli cities, where at least 11 people died according to emergency services. In Tel Aviv, AFPTV images showed destroyed buildings where firefighters were searching for possible survivors. The projectiles also hit Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, and Haifa, in the north of the country. Israel's attacks have left at least 224 dead since Friday and more than a thousand injured in Iran, the Health Ministry reported on Sunday. On the Israeli side, the death toll rose on Monday to 24 dead since Friday, the prime minister's office indicated. On Monday, eleven deaths were reported and, the day before, three Israelis died in the bombing of an oil refinery in Haifa, authorities reported. In Petah Tikva, Henn said that he went to a shelter when he heard the sirens. "A few minutes later, we heard an explosion and when we went out, we saw the damage, all the houses destroyed," he recounted. Both Israel and Western powers accuse Iran of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons, something that Tehran denies, while defending its right to develop a civilian nuclear program. Israeli attacks targeted, among others, the Natanz uranium enrichment center in the center of the country, whose surface part was destroyed according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But, according to the IAEA, "there was no attack" on the underground part of the facility, where the main uranium enrichment plant is located. The Israeli air campaign against Iran has killed senior officials of the Iranian regime, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards and the chief of the General Staff of the army, as well as nine scientists from the nuclear program. – «Reach an agreement» – Amid the intensification of the conflict, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian called for the "unity" of the country in the face of a "criminal aggression".Amidst international calls for de-escalation, US President Donald Trump reiterated that Washington "has nothing to do" with the campaign of its Israeli ally. However, he warned that the United States would respond "with all its force" against any attack by Iran against its interests.
After indirect conversations between the United States and Iran about the Islamic Republic's nuclear program were abruptly interrupted following Israel's attack, Trump urged Iran on Monday to return to the negotiating table. "They have to reach an agreement, and it's painful for both sides, but I would say that Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it's too late," Trump said on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. From Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicated that Washington could stop Israel's attacks with "a phone call" and that this "would open the way to return to diplomacy." According to a senior U.S. official who spoke to AFP, Trump intervened to prevent Israel from assassinating Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But this Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that killing Khamenei, "would end the conflict," in statements to ABC News.
