Iran fires fresh missiles at Israel, IDF says air defence intercepting attacks

In a tense escalation that has set the region on edge, Iran unleashed yet another volley of missiles toward Israel on Thursday, according to the Israeli military and Iranian state media. Air raid sirens wailed across multiple cities, including the bustling heart of Tel Aviv, though, for now, no casualties have been reported. The strike followed a tense lull of over seven hours, underscoring the fragile calm that hangs over the conflict.

“The Israeli Air Force has identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel,” the military declared, noting that its air defence systems were diligently intercepting the incoming projectiles. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB confirmed the barrage, signaling Tehran’s continued engagement in this unfolding confrontation.

Amid the spiraling violence, Iranian media reported that more than 1,000 souls have been lost in the relentless Israeli and US strikes that erupted last weekend. The tinderbox of hostilities was ignited on 28 February, when joint US-Israel airstrikes on Iranian soil reportedly claimed the life of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of his family, and several senior officials, after diplomatic overtures between Washington and Tehran collapsed.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian lamented that Tehran had earnestly sought diplomacy to avert the flames of war, but was compelled to retaliate in the face of what he described as “American-Zionist military aggression”. Speaking to leaders of neighbouring Gulf nations, he emphasised Iran’s respect for sovereignty and stressed that true regional security can only be guaranteed through collective cooperation.

Meanwhile, Israel, bolstered by the United States, proclaimed on Wednesday that the two nations had achieved “historic gains” in their campaign against Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office framed the latest strike as a preemptive measure against Iran’s alleged reconstruction of its atomic bomb programme in newly fortified underground bunkers.

The reverberations of the conflict are being felt far beyond Iran and Israel. Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned that Tehran’s actions risk drawing neighbouring states into the maelstrom, while Turkey summoned the Iranian ambassador after a missile, likely aimed at a base in Cyprus, landed within Turkish territory.

As missiles streak across the sky and diplomacy falters, West Asia remains suspended in a precarious balance, with every passing hour threatening to plunge the region deeper into the shadows of war.

With IANS inputs