Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles at Israel on Wednesday morning after its capital, Tehran, endured a heavy night of bombing.
As the conflict entered a sixth day, US President Donald Trump again insisted that Washington is playing no part in Israel’s bombing campaign.
In Tehran, explosions were heard early on Wednesday as Israeli air strikes intensified. Iranian state media reported explosions in the Piroozi, Sabalan and Sayyad areas of the city.
In retaliation, Iran told residents of Tel Aviv to prepare for an attack, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming its hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles were “repeatedly shaking the shelters” in the commercial hub of the Israeli city.
“The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles” was carried out, the Guards said in a statement broadcast on state television. Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran said it also sent a “swarm of drones” towards Israel, where the army said it intercepted two over the Dead Sea area.
Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls from the conflict and according to its last update, issued on Monday, 224 people have been killed and 1,277 others wounded.
Iran has retaliated against Israel's air strike campaign by launching some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel since the conflict started on Friday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the public broadcaster ZDF that “the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme may be on the agenda” if it does not return to the negotiating table.
Iran had been negotiating a nuclear deal with the US for two months before Israel launched its assault. The talks, now suspended, were about curbing Tehran’s atomic programme, which it insists is for peaceful purposes, in return for sanctions relief.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday in a post on social media that “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran”, crediting US military equipment for helping Israel gain air superiority.
