Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Saturday to pursue what he called a systematic plan to eradicate Iran’s government, dismissing calls for restraint as Israeli and American forces bombed Tehran’s airport and struck an oil depot while Iranian missiles continued raining on Gulf states hosting US military installations.
The Israeli prime minister’s televised vow to fight “with all our force” came as Iran launched wave after wave of projectiles at neighbors caught between their security partnerships with Washington and their proximity to a country now absorbing punishment from two of the world’s most powerful militaries.
Fire billowed from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport after a predawn strike that Israel said destroyed 16 aircraft and fighter jets.
Later raids targeted a military academy, an underground command center and missile storage facilities as Netanyahu declared his forces had achieved nearly total control of Iranian airspace over the capital.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck the Juffair base in Bahrain, which they accused of being used earlier Saturday to attack an Iranian desalination plant.
Air raid warnings sounded in Jerusalem and Doha. The UAE intercepted 15 missiles and 119 drones Saturday morning, with video footage showing one projectile crashing at Dubai’s airport.
Blasts were heard in Baghdad, Erbil and Dubai by Saturday evening. Saudi Arabia also reported an attack, though details were scarce.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, said evidence showed some regional countries were openly and covertly providing territory for enemy operations. “The heavy attacks on these targets will continue,” he warned.
President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an apology to neighbors hosting major American bases but struck a defiant tone when addressing what appeared to be Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender. Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” he said.
Trump had posted earlier on Truth Social: “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” He added that areas and groups previously spared were “under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior.”
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Speaking later in Florida, Trump repeated his claim that Iran had been close to possessing a nuclear weapon. “They’re crazy and they would have used it. So we did the world a favour,” he said.
The war, now entering its second week, began when joint Israeli and American airstrikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Fighting has since expanded to Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan, reaching as far as waters off Sri Lanka where US forces sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo.
Inside Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential buildings is mounting. A 26-year-old Tehran teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP that people who have not experienced war cannot understand the anxiety. “When you hear the bombs, you have no idea where they will hit,” she said.
Iran’s health ministry put the civilian death toll at 926 on Friday with around 6,000 injured, figures AFP could not independently verify.
Israel intensified strikes on Lebanon, repeatedly bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs and vast areas of the south where Hezbollah holds sway. Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that his country would pay a “very heavy price” if it failed to disarm the Iran-backed group.
Israeli commandos attempted overnight to retrieve remains of an air force navigator lost in 1986, killing 41 people in the town of Nabi Sheet during the unsuccessful mission. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 294 died in Israeli airstrikes over the past week. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned of a humanitarian disaster.
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Global stock markets slumped while crude oil prices surged. Analysts warned there appears to be no clear path to ending a conflict US and Israeli officials suggest could last a month or more.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit two oil tankers with exploding drones in the Gulf on Saturday as they continue paralyzing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global energy shipments.
Trump has promised to help rebuild Iran’s economy if Tehran installs someone “acceptable” to him to replace Khamenei. But Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s UN ambassador, said Washington would have no role in selecting the successor.
“The selection of Iran’s leadership will take place strictly in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people, without any foreign interference,” he said.
China and Russia have stayed largely out of the fighting despite their ties to Iran, though reports suggest Moscow is providing intelligence on US troop positions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US was “not concerned” about those reports.
The war has killed six American service members. Trump attended a ceremony Saturday for the return of their bodies to Dover Air Force Base.