Israeli airstrikes rock Tehran; Trump warned Iran against attacking U.S. assets

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that if Israeli bombings continue, Tehran’s response will be “more decisive and severe.”

His comments come as explosions were heard across Tehran and close to Mehrabad airport as defense systems were activated. Schools, mosques, and the metro were opened for people to shelter in during the bombardment. 

According to Pezeshkian, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that “Israel can’t do anything without our permission,” arguing that Israel’s actions were directly authorized by the U.S.

Trump said yesterday that the U.S. had “nothing to do” with Israel’s overnight strikes, and the U.S. has distanced itself from Israel’s attacks on Iran. Trump has also said the U.S. “knew everything” following Israel’s initial strikes on Iran last week. 

The Israeli military has identified missiles launched from Iran moving toward Israel, and the air defense systems are operating to intercept them, the IDF said in a statement this afternoon.

“Upon receiving an alert,” the IDF said, “the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice. Leaving the protected space is only permitted following an explicit directive.”

The intensity of the attacks mean people are evacuating Tehran now. There’s heavy traffic out of the city and some roads have been closed due to attacks.

Iran has not sent any messages to Israel “through any country,” according to foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Telegram.

The comments come in response to reports that Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian had asked the President of South Cyprus to deliver a message to Israel.

Just days ago, Tehran was signaling hope for a breakthrough in U.S. nuclear talks, but ongoing strikes in the region have undercut diplomatic momentum, and Baghaei’s comments underscore the deepening collapse of backchannel communication.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a statement today named 7 more senior commanders of its air force who were killed in Israeli strikes after earlier confirming its top commander Amirali Hazijadeh was also killed.

These are: Mahmoud Bagheri, Davoud Shekhiyan, Mohammad-Baqer Taherpour, Mansour Safarpour, Masoud Tayyeb, Khosro Hassani, Javad Jarsara.

Iran has opened its underground metro system, mosques and schools for people to shelter in as the Israeli military bombards the capital.

“From tonight metro and mosques will be open 24/7 as safe locations,” government spokesperson Fatameh Mohajerani posted on Telegram. “People can also go to schools as safe places.”

The head of Tehran’s City Council, Mehdi Chamran, said on Telegram that Tehran and other cities “lack fully prepared shelters,” and that multi-story carparks and tall buildings were also “suitable locations that can be prepared for emergency situations.”

So far people are not rushing to leave Tehran yet, though many have traveled for this weekend’s Eid al-Ghadir holiday and may stay out of the city.

Evacuations are also limited by caps at the pump. Gas stations are only allowing 25 liters, about 5 and a half gallons, of fuel at each visit. 

The core purpose of Israel’s operation is to “remove existential threats.” That means preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. 

It remains an ambition that will not be achieved easily.

Today an Israeli military official told NBC News the Fordow nuclear site, buried deep underground, still hasn’t been targeted. “We have seen a lot of success in Natanz and Isfahan,” he added. “It will take them many months, maybe more to restore the sites we have already operated in.” 

But Israel wants to devestate Iran’s nuclear capability to a far greater extent. “Iran has worked for decades to disperse their nuclear program, to put it underground, to put it in different sites to try and hide it,” he added. 

“During the night we have carried out an operation against different sites that are related to their nuclear program including one of their most important headquarters in Tehran. And this is ongoing,” he said. “The job’s not done.”

There are explosions being heard across Tehran now: in the western, northwestern and central parts of the city, and close to Mehrabad airport. The aerial defense systems have been activated.

The strikes in Tehran feel stronger and seem to be targeting more insfrastructure locations in what could be a next phase of the attacks.

Iranian airpsace will remain closed today until 2 a.m. Monday local time (6 p.m. ET Sunday), according to Iranian media ISNA.

Meanwhile, Israel’s flag carrier, El Al announced it was cancelling all flights today and suspending new bookings for flights for the rest of this month.

Israel endured its second night of Iranian reprisal attacks last night when three rounds of ballistic missiles and drones inflicted widespread damage across Tel Aviv and multiplied the country’s death toll.

Israeli medical officials said ten people were killed in the overnight attacks, raising the total number of deaths to 13, including at least 2 children.

Iran’s attack included 70 surface-to-surface missiles and dozens of drones, some of which are “still incoming,” an Israeli military official said.

Meanwhile, Israel continued to pummel targets in Iran into a third day after striking 80 targets in Tehran, Iran’s capital, last night, according to the Israeli military official.

“The aircraft operated via the aerial corridor we paved into the heart of Tehran,” the official said. “So far, over 250 targets have been struck and more than 720 different components have been destroyed. Even now, we are continuing to attack dozens more targets in Tehran.”

The same official said Israel gave prior warning to civilians in the areas around its targets warning them to leave the vicinities of Iranian weapons sites.

Israel’s initial attacks against Iran early Friday morning “limited the Iranian response so far,” the official said. But Iran still has about 2,000 missiles in reserve, said the official, with plans to reach 8,000 missiles in the future.

Explosions are currently being heard in Sa’adat Abad, a wealthy neighborhood in northwest Tehran, near the Espinas Palace Hotel.

Iranian police in Alborz province said it has arrested two operatives of Israeli spy agency, Mossad, according to state news agency Tasnim.

The individuals were working from a safe house, making car bombs and other explosives, police said.

Alborz is in nothern Iran, bordering Tehran province.

Israeli strikes hit an Iranian defense ministry site in Isfahan Governorate, Iran’s state media ISNA reported, quoting Isfahan’s deputy governor.

No casualites were reported and damage was still being assesed, the official said. Separately, a residential building was hit in Narmak around Tehran, state media Tasnim reported.

Explosions were also heard in Shiraz city in southern Iran.

Israel’s Oil Refineries said its pipelines and transmission lines in Haifa had been damaged by missile strikes by Iran, according to a regulatory filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.It said that no injuries or casualties were reported at the sites, with refining facilities continuing to operate despite a shutdown of some downstream operations.

It said it is examining the impact of the damage on its operations and implications on its financial results.

Video posted online verified by NBC News shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike last night on an oil refinery near Shahran, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Tehran.

It shows two massive fires raging as huge black clouds of smoke cloud the night sky.

Iran confirmed last night that the depot was targeted, but that the “situation was under control,” according to SNN, a news agency close to the Iranian regime.

Footage posted on Telegram and verified by NBC News shows missiles striking the city of Tel Aviv on Sunday morning.

In the video, three Iranian missiles streak across the sky. One plunges toward the ground, triggering a massive explosion as a fireball erupts, and a shockwave of light flashes across the ground with a loud bang.

A second missile appears to descend in the distance before the camera shakes and voices erupt in panic as the cameraman runs inside a building.

Israeli firefighters said they were responding to multiple incidents following the latest missile barrage, saying a direct hit on an eight-story building in the Dan District had caused significant damage. It said ten firefighting teams were on site.

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz today instructed the IDF to issue evacuation warnings to Tehran residents living near “weapons production compounds,” his spokesperson said in a statement today.

The IDF then issued messages to those in Tehran “living near weapons manufacturing sites, urging them to evacuate for their own safety.”

“The IDF will strike these sites and will continue to peel away the Iranian snake’s skin in Tehran and wherever nuclear or weapons capabilities exist,” the statement added.

The U.S. “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” last night, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said.

“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” the president added.

Earlier, Trump said in another post that he had spent about an hour on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,” Trump said, referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 13 people in Israel, including 3 children, Netanyahu’s office said today.

Over 370 people were injured, including 9 who were seriously injured, it added. Israel’s foreign ministry in a post on X today that 35 people were still missing.

The Trump administration confirmed that U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that had been scheduled for today have been canceled due to the ongoing attacks between Israel and Iran.

“While there will be no meeting Sunday, we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” a senior administration official told NBC News.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier said that the sixth round of U.S.-Iran talks, which had been set to take place in Oman, could not go ahead while Iran was under attack.

Israel completed a “wide-scale strike” on Tehran’s nuclear and fuel storage facilities, the Israeli military said in a statement last night.

The targets, which included Iran’s defense ministry headquarters, “play a key role in advancing Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons,” the IDF said, adding the strikes were carried out by Israeli fighter jets.

Video circulating on social media and verified by NBC News shows Iranian missiles striking the Israeli port city of Haifa late last night.

The footage shows bright flashes of orange light in the darkness before one missile appears to streak through the sky, striking the ground, causing an explosion, as a plume of smoke rises in the distance.

Iranian state TV reported last night that it was attacking with a combination of drones and missiles, and that Haifa and Tel Aviv were the main targets.

There is no apparent damage at Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which has an enrichment plant buried deep underground, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

The Khondab heavy water reactor, which is under construction, also appears to be undamaged, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a post on X.

The agency said there had been no further damage at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility since it was targeted by Israeli strikes on Friday.

No increase in off-site radiation is expected at Natanz, and the agency said it had been been informed by Iran’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority that off-site radiation levels also remained unchanged at the Esfahan nuclear facility, where Israeli strikes damaged four “critical buildings.”