Iran has threatened it will target UK, US and French bases and ships in the Middle East in case these countries help thwart its strikes against Israel as the fighting entered its second day on Saturday, following the recent exchange of strikes between the two countries.
Iranian media reported new Israeli strikes in Tehran and in cities in the west and north-west that house key defences and military bases. Similarly, Iran vowed it will also continue attacking Israeli targets.
“Tehran will burn” if Iran keeps firing missiles, the Israeli Defense Minister warned, while the prospect of planned nuclear talks between Iran and US going ahead were balancing on a fine line too after Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets on Friday, in which Iran accuses US of being complicit.
“You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” Iranian state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
78 died and 320 were wounded in Iran after Israel’s unexpected wave of airstrikes on Friday; another three casualties and dozens of wounded were recorded in Israel, hit by Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv during the night.
Besides the nine Iranian nuclear scientists and experts and several military officials killed in the Israeli strikes, an additional sixty people, including twenty children, also lost their lives from a hit on a residential building in Tehran.
Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy took place the morning after news broke that the sixth round of the US-Iran nuclear talks would take place few days later, Sunday in Oman.
A US proposal shared with Tehran in May reportedly called for a complete end to the enrichment of nuclear fuel on Iranian soil, even for a civilian energy programme, and a counter-proposal was expected.
In light of the Israeli strike, Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme is “meaningless”, however the country is yet to decide on whether to attend Sunday’s talks.
Israel’s move intended to sabotage and end the Iran-US nuclear talks, some analysts believe.
“Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to make a deal,” Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. “They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance,” the U.S. President commented.
On Thursday, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency had formally declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.
US President Trump called the Israeli strikes “excellent” and “very successful” in his media interviews on Friday.
David Lammy, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, said he was “alarmed by further strikes in the Middle East overnight, with reports of fatalities and injuries in Israel.”
“We must urgently de-escalate and prevent any further harm to civilians,” he added, and confirmed that he has spoken to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, to “urge calm.” On Friday, Lammy also spoke with his regional, European and US counterparts.
“This is a moment of grave peril in the Middle East and we are urging restraint and de-escalation,” he told media on Friday evening.
