Larijani vows to keep striking regional countries used for attacks on Iran

More than 150 Iranian nationals, including diplomats and their families, have left Lebanon and are being flown to Russia on a Russian plane, Reuters reported citing a senior Lebanese security source.

Another 20 Iranians had left on Friday following the start of a new conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the report added.

The departure comes after the Israeli military threatened Iran’s representatives in Lebanon and conducted strikes near the embassy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Saturday that the Israeli-US operation "will create the conditions enabling the Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands."

"We do not seek to divide Iran—we seek to liberate it, to free it from the yoke of tyranny and live with it in peace," he said.

"I believe that if you rise at the decisive moment, the day will not be far when Israel and Iran will once again be strong friends."

An oil depot in southern Tehran was targeted in an attack by US and Israeli fighter jets, IRGC-affiliated Fars News reported Saturday.

Semi-official Mehr News said the facility lies near the Tehran oil refinery.

An informed source told Iranian news agency ILNA that the airstrike has not damaged Tehran's refinery and there is no disruption in its operation.

The source said the Rey oil depot and pipelines have been targeted according to initial evidence.

New satellite imagery indicates that at least 17 aircraft were damaged during Israeli strikes on Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on Friday night, BBC reported on Saturday.
An image captured by Planet Labs PBC at 11:20 GMT (14:50 Tehran time) appears to show damage to the aircraft, with some seemingly completely destroyed, BBC reported.

At least seven of the affected planes are visible near the airport’s main apron and runway, while others are scattered across different areas of the facility, the report said.

It remains unclear how many of the aircraft were operational at the time they were struck.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had "destroyed 16 “Quds Force” aircraft that it said “were transporting weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah" at Mehrabad.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said responding to the US-Israeli strikes is Tehran’s inherent right of self-defense, urging regional countries not to allow their territory to be used for attacks against Iran.

In a statement, the ministry said Iranian defensive operations against US military bases and facilities in the region should “in no way be interpreted as hostility” toward neighboring countries.

It stressed that such actions are directed solely at forces involved in attacks on Iran and are carried out under the right of self-defense recognized in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.