Strikes on Iran will intensify this week, says Israeli defense minister

“The threat level from the Iranian government and its actors is assessed as very high, and we are on full alert,” a spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry said in response to Iran International on Saturday.

Federal and state security agencies, the spokesperson said, have adjusted protective measures for Jewish communities and Israeli and Jewish institutions since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, strengthening them where necessary.

According to the ministry, German security bodies are continuously reassessing the threat environment, maintaining a heightened state of readiness, and adapting protective measures as needed.

Berlin flags transnational repression risks

German security agencies are in close coordination with each other, state authorities, and international partners, sharing intelligence on potential threats, the spokesperson said.

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“There is also close cooperation between the federal government and the states on the issue of transnational repression,” the spokesperson added.

Monitoring, pressure, and targeting of opposition figures beyond national borders remain part of the activities of Iranian state actors, the spokesperson said.

Responding to threats by Iranian officials against Persian-language media, the spokesperson said the German government treats any activities by foreign state bodies or affiliated actors on its soil with utmost seriousness and does not tolerate them.

The Interior Ministry is working with security agencies and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry to counter transnational repression, according to the statement.

Shooting in Netherlands coincides with warning

The comments came as a 36-year-old Iranian man opposed to the Islamic Republic was shot and seriously wounded in the Netherlands on Thursday morning.

Information received by Iran International identified the man as Mohi Shafiei, a monarchist activist and a member of the Dutch police, who is currently hospitalized.

It remains unclear who carried out the attack.

Dutch prosecutors said “all possible scenarios” are being considered. The country’s justice minister said security measures had been taken in light of the officer’s background.

History of overseas targeting

The warning from Berlin comes after Mohsen Rafiqdoust, the first minister of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said in March 2025 in an interview with the Didban Iran website that he had overseen operations targeting opponents abroad in the years following the 1979 revolution.

German newspaper Welt also reported in December 2025 that Iranian intelligence services had expanded pressure tactics into Germany by threatening the families of Iranian migrants inside Iran, coercing some exiles into cooperation.

Germany’s interior ministry told Iran International that the threat posed by the Islamic Republic and its agents was assessed as very high and that the country was on full alert.

In remarks about threats made by Iranian officials against dissidents, Persian-language media, Jewish citizens and Israeli interests in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, a ministry spokesperson said federal and state security agencies had adjusted protective measures for Jewish and Israeli sites since October 7, 2023, and reinforced them when needed.

The spokesperson said authorities were continuously assessing the current threat level, remained on high alert and would further adapt protective measures if necessary.

The spokesperson added that federal security agencies were in close contact with one another, with state authorities and with international partners to exchange information. Monitoring and countering opponents beyond national borders, or transnational repression, remained part of the Islamic Republic’s activities, the spokesperson said.

Asked about threats against Persian-language media, the spokesperson said Germany took any activity by foreign state bodies or affiliated agents on its soil very seriously and would not tolerate it.

Missile strikes and explosions were reported in Tehran and several other parts of Iran early on Saturday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.

In Tehran, multiple areas were hit between about 3:30 a.m. and 4:35 a.m. Shahrak-e Rah Ahan was reportedly struck by four missiles at 3:45 a.m. The Ferdows Boulevard area was hit around 3:30 a.m., while three explosions were heard in District 22 and four more from the direction of Tehransar. Loud blasts were also reported in Lavizan and Shahr-e Ziba, and in Bidkaneh, west of the capital, attacks were said to have continued from 4:00 a.m. at roughly 10-minute intervals.

Elsewhere, two explosions were heard at 3:32 a.m. in Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran. In Isfahan, in central Iran, explosions were reported at 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., with the 3:00 a.m. blast described as the strongest. Shahreza, south of Isfahan, was reportedly hit by a missile at 3:00 a.m. In Yazd, in central Iran, several points in the mountains around the city were bombed at about 10:40 a.m. In Dezful and Andimeshk, in the southwest, five heavy explosions were reported between 11:40 a.m. and 11:48 a.m., shaking buildings, with the Dokouheh area said to have been targeted.

Azim Esmaili, a deputy at the Basij Organization, was killed in a March 17 attack in Tehran alongside the group’s chief, Gholamreza Soleimani.

Esmaili had previously served as head of personnel and inspection at the IRGC’s Khuzestan branch.

Explosions and military activity were reported in several parts of Iran early on Saturday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.

In Fardis, west of Tehran in Alborz province, a Basij base and an old prayer site were said to have been turned into a base for special forces. Witnesses in Isfahan reported the sound of fighter jets overhead and several large explosions before dawn.

In southern Iran, Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf was rocked by repeated explosions from around 8 a.m., with blasts heard about every 10 minutes. On Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, witnesses reported the sound of several fighter jets at about 5 a.m.

A village in Ramsar, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, was hit at 3:37 a.m., with a strong explosion heard and a residential unit struck. In Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh, also in the north near the Caspian Sea, an area was targeted around 4 a.m. and a large blast was heard.