TEHRAN/JERUSALEM – A tense quiet fell over the Middle East on Saturday night after more than 36 hours of unprecedented direct military exchanges between Israel and Iran. What began with a massive preemptive Israeli strike on Friday has spiraled into a deadly cycle of retaliation, with Iranian ballistic missiles launched into Israeli cities and Israel continuing to pound targets deep inside Iran.
Throughout Saturday, the conflict widened. Iran, vowing revenge for the killing of its top military leadership, launched several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. Explosions rocked Tel Aviv and surrounding areas, where Israeli emergency services reported at least three people killed and over 200 injured after missile impacts on residential buildings, while most of Iran’s assault was stopped by Israel’s considerable ground- and space-based systems.
Israel’s military has maintained its offensive posture. In a considerable warning, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Saturday that if Iran’s missile attacks continue, “Tehran will burn.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported carrying out further strikes on Saturday, including targeting an Iranian oil refinery in the southern port of Kangan and continuing to hit missile launch sites.
The escalating violence has drawn urgent calls for restraint from world leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, urging a return to negotiations, while the United Kingdom announced it was moving RAF jets to the region for “contingency support.”
The conflict began early Friday when Israel launched a broad assault it described as an act of national preservation. Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, told an emergency Security Council session that Israel had stopped an imminent, large-scale attack from Iran and its proxies that would have been “far more sophisticated than October 7.”
That initial Israeli strike decapitated part of Iran’s military command, killing Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran’s Supreme Leader quickly appointed replacements to project stability. In total, Israel now claims to have killed more than 20 senior Iranian commanders and nine nuclear scientists.
For its part, Iran has warned of a punishing response. President Pezeshkian said Saturday that the “continuation of ‘Zionist’ aggression will be met with a more severe and powerful response.” The death toll in Iran from the initial Israeli attacks has risen to 78, with 320 wounded, according to Iran’s UN envoy, though these figures change rapidly.
The United States, which was informed of Israel’s initial plan but was not militarily involved, continues to encourage Iran back to the negotiating table with respect to its nuclear ambitions. “Our absolute, foremost priority is the protection of US citizens, personnel, and forces in the region,” US official McCoy Pitt told the UN, warning that consequences for Iran would be “dire” if it targeted American interests.
Damage to Iran’s strategic infrastructure has been significant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that “four critical buildings” at the Isfahan nuclear site were damaged, “including the Uranium Conversion Facility and the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant,” though no off-site radiation was detected. The strikes have also hit Iran’s economy, with its Ministry of Oil reporting attacks on two major gas fields in Bushehr province in addition to the refinery hit on Saturday.
Diplomatic off-ramps appear to be closing. A planned round of US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman, seen as a crucial channel for de-escalation, was canceled, a casualty of the direct military confrontation that now threatens to engulf the region.
Iran has long funded and encouraged Islamic violence against Western civilians, earning itself the moniker “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”
