Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot in Tehran, Iran. Photo / Getty Images
Israel and Iran have launched assaults on each other in the fourth day of intense fighting between the heavily armed countries.
Israel has struck multiple targets, including the main gas depot in Tehran, while Iran fired numerous volleys of ballistic missiles at Israel.
The leaders of both countries have vowed to intensify their attacks, defying international calls for de-escalation and stirring anxiety over the prospect of a wider conflict.
The fighting began on Friday when Israel launched a surprise attack on dozens of targets inside Iran, including nuclear sites, and killed many of the top leaders in the military’s chain of command.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones targeted at Israel.
The intense fighting has stirred anxiety over the prospect of an increasingly deadly conflict that could draw in the United States and other major powers.
Scheduled talks between the US and Iran about the future of Iran’s nuclear programme have been cancelled.
Israel bombarded Tehran with a new wave of strikes yesterday (NZT). In total, Israeli strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran and injured at least 1200 more, according to Iran’s Health Ministry.
On Friday, Israeli strikes collapsed a section of a 14-storey residential building near Nobonyad Square in Tehran, according to videos of the immediate aftermath and rescue efforts verified by the New York Times. Iranian state television reported that 60 people died in the strike, including 20 children.
On Sunday, Israel struck two major energy facilities in Tehran, including the city’s main gas depot and central oil refinery, in a significant escalation that targeted non-military civilian infrastructure.
Roads leading out of the Iranian capital were packed yesterday, according to the traffic police, residents and images broadcast on Iranian news media. Residents described long lines forming at service stations and neighbours with suitcases trying to flag down taxis.
Israeli strikes were also reported in:
Natanz: The site of Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility, where Iran has produced much of the near-bomb-grade fuel that has put the country on the threshold of the ability to build nuclear weapons. Social media footage verified by the New York Times, as well as an Iranian news report, showed flames and thick black smoke from the Natanz nuclear enrichment complex on Friday.
Tabriz: The city in northwestern Iran was hit on Friday. Social media footage verified by the New York Times shows that an airport in the city was hit by Israeli strikes.
Kermanshah: Video verified by the New York Times shows large plumes of dark smoke near a mountain range in Kermanshah, in western Iran, on Friday. The smoke appeared to be rising from an area believed to be the site of an underground missile base. An Iranian Army aviation base and a Revolutionary Guard facility are also nearby.
Who was killed in Israel’s attack?
Israel killed at least six of Iran’s top generals, a senior politician and five nuclear scientists. Attacks on residential complexes for military commanders appeared to be targeted assassinations, according to four senior Iranian officials.
The dead included General Mohammad Bagheri, the powerful chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces; General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard; and General Gholamali Rashid, the deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces, according to Iranian news media reports.
Ali Shamkhani, an influential Iranian politician overseeing the nuclear talks with the US, was also killed on Friday, according to three senior officials and Iranian news media reports. Two prominent nuclear scientists, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranji and Fereydoun Abbasi, were killed when Israel attacked their homes.
Yesterday, the Tasnim News Agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran’s Government, said that the Revolutionary Guard reported that Mohammad Kazemi, who led the Guard’s intelligence organisation, and Hassan Mohaqiq, his deputy, had been killed in Israel’s strikes. The Guard also confirmed that several senior commanders in the airspace unit died in an airstrike on Friday.
Civilians bore the brunt of the attacks as Israeli missiles hit apartment buildings and residential complexes in Tehran. In one instance, Iran’s state television reported that an Israeli strike had killed 60 people, including 20 children, in one residential building in Tehran. Residents who spoke to the New York Times said they had not experienced attacks like this in a generation, with some recalling the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Many of Iran’s strikes have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defence system, but not all. Israel has invested billions of dollars in sophisticated systems to shoot down rockets, missiles, and drones.
Sunday was the deadliest day in Israel since the country launched its surprise attack on Iran on Friday. At least 12 people were known to have been killed during Iranian missile barrages. All were civilians.
Last night at least three people were killed when Iran struck an apartment building in Petach Tikva, a city in central Israel, according to a spokesperson for the city’s municipality. At least 67 others were injured at four sites across central Israel, according to Magen David Adom, the country’s national emergency service.
Why did Israel attack Iran?
Israeli officials described the strike as “pre-emptive”, although there had been no immediate indication that Iran was planning to attack.
An Israeli military official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to comply with protocol said the strikes had targeted elements of Iran’s nuclear programme and the regime’s long-range missile abilities.
He said that Iran had been advancing a secret programme to assemble a nuclear weapon, according to Israeli intelligence, and that it had enough material to assemble 15 nuclear bombs within days. The official did not provide details to support the assessment.
How did the US respond?
As President Donald Trump exited the White House to travel to Canada for the Group of 7 summit yesterday, he said he wanted Israel and Iran to strike a deal. “Sometimes they have to fight it out,” Trump told reporters as he left for Marine One. “We’re going to see what happens.”
The President also declined to say whether he had called on Israel to pause strikes on Iran. Asked if the US would continue to support Israel’s defences, Trump said, “we do”.
US officials have said that the US was not involved in the strikes on Iran. But Trump warned Iran that Washington would respond with overwhelming force if Iran responded to the Israeli attacks by attacking the US.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, however, has said that the attack could not have happened without “co-ordination and authorisation” from Washington. The ministry said that the US would also be responsible for the consequences.
The Israeli strike followed months of disagreement between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over how to handle Iran. The President had discouraged Israel from attacking Iran while US-Iran nuclear talks were ongoing.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Farnaz Fassihi, Aaron Boxerman, Ephrat Livni, Euan Ward and Lynsey Chutel
©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Twenty-seven locations in Kyiv were hit, including residential buildings.