Israel warns Iran that 'Tehran will burn' if it continues firing missiles

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Iran conflict

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran does not stop firing missiles at his country.

Iran and Israel have been launching tit-for-tat strikes since yesterday.

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It all started when Israel launched what it called a "pre-emptive" strike early on Friday, hitting nuclear and military sites inside Iran.

Mr Katz said in a statement that “if [Iranian supreme leader Ali] Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front – Tehran will burn”.

The statement added that the minister had completed an assessment of Israel's situation with the chief of the military and the chief of the Mossad.

“The Iranian dictator is turning the citizens of Iran into hostages and bringing to reality the fact that they, and in particular the residents of Tehran, will pay a heavy price for the criminal harm to the citizens of Israel,” Mr Katz added.

Israel said it targeted Iranian cities on Saturday, including Tabriz in the north-west of the country and Assadabad in western Iran, where two people were killed, according to Iranian reports.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency later published a video claiming that no damage has resulted from an attack Israel had claimed on Tabriz.

At least 60 people, including 20 children, were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit the Shahid Chamran Nobonyad Complex, a housing development linked to Iran’s Ministry of Defence, in northeast Tehran.

Earlier in the day, Iran launched a new wave of attacks on Israel, state media reported, after Israel's military said it detected missiles inbound from Iran.

“New round of Honest Promise 3 attacks,” state television reported, referring to the name of the Iranian military operation against Israel, following deadly Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

At least three people have been killed in Israel during Iranian missile barrages since Friday. Two people were killed in central Israel early on Saturday and a woman who was injured in a suburb near Tel Aviv on Friday later died in a hospital, a representative of Beilinson Hospital said. More than 64 people have been injured.

Waves of missiles against Israeli cities amount to the most forceful step yet by Tehran since Israel’s overnight raids killed senior Iranian military leaders and damaged military infrastructure.

Israel said it identified missiles launched from the Islamic Republic and reported explosions from interceptions and falling debris from projectiles. There was video of at least one large explosion in Tel Aviv, and reports of others across Jerusalem.

An Iranian rocket has killed one person and injured more than 20 when it hit near homes in Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, according to Israel’s emergency services.

A number of people were reported to be trapped under the rubble, it said.

“This is a difficult and complex scene, and we are still continuing to scan and ensure that there are no additional victims inside the buildings,” said Rami Musher, deputy director of the Ayalon region’s emergency services.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that he went to shelters five times following Iran’s missile strikes.

“Been rough night in Israel. Had to head to shelter five times during the night,” Mr Huckabee wrote on X. “It’s now Shabbat here. Should be quiet. Probably won’t be. Entire nation under orders to stay near shelter.”

The extent to which Israel’s air defences were breached is unknown. US forces assisted by firing on Iranian missiles.

In Iran, state media reported that air defences were reactivated in expectation of a response.

'We knew everything'

US President Donald Trump told Reuters on Friday that he and his team had known the attacks were coming – and still believed there was room for an accord.

“We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out,” Mr Trump said. “They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late.”

Mr Trump said he had repeatedly pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay an attack to give diplomacy more time, though the US President himself had threatened to bomb Tehran if nuclear talks failed.