Iran's FM says loss of commanders ‘not such a big problem’

The Israeli military published new footage showing strikes on Iranian soldiers preparing missiles and on a primed launcher in western Iran on Saturday.

The military said it neutralized “many” ballistic missile launchers that were ready for immediate attacks on Israel, and that the Israeli Air Force struck members of Iran’s ballistic missile unit as they were arming a launcher.

Iran’s Red Crescent said on Saturday that more than 20 provinces had been affected by attacks, but said there was “no cause for concern” at this stage, according to state media.

A spokesperson said the biggest reported strike hit a school in the town of Minab, Hormozgan province, where rescue teams were transferring wounded people and the dead.

The Red Crescent urged citizens to stay at least 100 meters away from impact sites and avoid gathering at the locations.

The Israeli military said it spent months preparing its campaign of simultaneous airstrikes targeting senior Iranian political and military officials at several locations in Tehran on Saturday.

The plan included a major intelligence effort to “identify an operational opportunity at the moment when senior regime officials would convene,” the military said. A decision was made to strike in the morning rather than at night despite Iranian preparedness, and the army said it succeeded in “achieving tactical surprise for the second time,” referring to its strikes during the June 2025 war.

Intelligence officers spent thousands of hours compiling targets, increasing their number “by hundreds of percent,” and conducted research “in parallel with precise location tracking of Iranian commanders and senior leadership,” the military said. It added that US confidence in Israel’s “intelligence and operational capabilities” was a significant factor in Washington’s decision to join the operation.

Satellite imagery published by a New York Times reporter shows destruction at the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran following an Israeli airstrike.

Khamenei was among several senior Iranian leaders targeted in Israeli military strikes earlier in the day, according to an Israeli official, though the outcome of the strike remains unclear.

Air raid sirens sounded in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain in the early hours, news agencies reported.

Iran’s Guards said they had begun an operation dubbed “True Promise 4.”

In Qatar, a government official told Agence France-Presse that air defenses intercepted an Iranian missile, adding that US-made Patriot systems destroyed the projectile.

Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the region. Qatar’s Interior Ministry later said the attack caused no damage.

Bahrain said a facility linked to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet had been targeted in a missile attack, according to a statement carried by the country’s national communications center, without giving further details.

Kuwait’s military said it had dealt with missiles in its airspace, state news agency KUNA reported.

Jordan’s military said it had shot down two ballistic missiles targeting the country.

Residents in Abu Dhabi told AFP they heard loud explosions, and the UAE state news agency said one person was killed after Emirati forces intercepted Iranian missiles.

The UAE condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty and international law and said it reserved the right to respond.

Explosions were also reported in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, according to AFP. Saudi authorities did not immediately comment.