Amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East, a huge explosion rocked Iran’s capital Tehran on Sunday as the Israeli military struck the heart of the city.
The Israeli military said yes hit the targets in downtown Tehran, home to the country’s police headquarters and Iran’s state television.
An explosion in Iran’s capital sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky and shook the ground. However, it was not clear what the target was.
Iran vows retaliation
Earlier, the Islamic Republic fired missiles at several targets in Israel and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. It promised massive retaliation for the killing of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, by the United States and Israel. He was killed on Saturday in a joint Israeli-American airstrike on his office in Tehran.
Iran’s cabinet vowed that this “great crime will never go unanswered,” and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards threatened to launch the “most intensive offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American bases.
“You crossed our red line and you have to pay the price,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We will deal such devastating blows that you yourselves will be forced to beg.
Trump warns that any retaliation would lead to further escalation
In response, US President Donald Trump warned that any retaliation by Iran would only lead to further escalation.
“They better not do it,” Trump said in a post on the social network.
“If they do, we’ll hit them WITH A POWER THEY’VE NEVER SEEN!”
As Israel and the US expanded their targeting of high-ranking officials, an airstrike on a meeting of the National Defense Council claimed the lives of Iran’s army chief of staff and its defense minister. The attack also killed the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Khamenei’s top security adviser.
General Abdol Rahim Mousavi and Defense Minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh were killed in the airstrike, along with Major General Mohammad Pakpour, who took over as head of the Guards after his predecessor was killed during the 12-day conflict last June.
The late adviser Ali Shamkhani was a longtime pillar of Iran’s security apparatus.
Hundreds of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi demonstrated on Sunday over the rapidly spreading regional instability and stormed the US consulate, resulting in broken windows and violent confrontations.
Security forces used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to police official Mohammad Jawad. Authorities reported at least nine casualties during these clashes.
In the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Oman announced that an oil tanker was intercepted and attacked, with four of the crew wounded. State controlled Oman News Agency identified the vessel as the Palau-flagged Skylight and said the crew consisted of Indian and Iranian nationals. While the identity of the attackers remains unconfirmed, the incident coincides with reports that Iran has been using radio transmissions to threaten shipping in the strait since the start of joint US-Israeli strikes.
