Tehran: Israel said it struck a nuclear site near Tehran on Wednesday, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.
Hours after US President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s surrender, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed his country would show “no mercy” towards Israel’s leadership.
Trump insists the United States has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned his patience was wearing thin.
The long-range blitz began Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.
After the Israeli military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district of Tehran for their safety, Israeli warplanes hit the capital early Wednesday.
“More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets… carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours,” the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities were hit.
“As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted.”
Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear reactor.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles at Tel Aviv.
“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.
