After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, Israel's surprise assault on Iran last week has touched off the most intense fighting yet and triggered fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the Middle East.
Israel says its attacks have hit military and nuclear facilities, and killed many top commanders and atomic scientists -- but a senior US official said Sunday that US President Donald Trump told Israel to back down from a plan to kill supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the hostilities broke out, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slamming Iran on Sunday for allegedly targeting civilians.
"Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children," he said, during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
His remarks came hours after Iranian missile fire killed at least 10 people, according to authorities, pushing the death toll in Israel up to 13 since Iran began its retaliatory strikes Friday.
Iranian state television reported at least five people were killed Sunday by an Israeli strike that hit a residential building in downtown Iran.
Colonel Reza Sayyad, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, threatened a "devastating response" to Israel's attacks.
"Leave the occupied territories (Israel) because they will certainly no longer be habitable in the future," he warned in a televised address, adding shelters will "not guarantee security".
Iran's health ministry reported at least 224 people killed and more than 1,200 wounded in Israeli attacks since Friday.
Israel has claimed strikes as far away as Mashhad in Iran's far east, 2,300 kilometres (1,430 miles) from Israel, while a likely Iranian drone killed a woman in Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said, in what would be the first death on Syrian soil since the current hostilities between Iran and Israel began.
The drone struck the woman's home in western Tartus province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Israeli military said early Monday that it was striking surface-to-surface missile sites in central Iran, adding it was "operating against this threat in our skies and in Iranian skies".
- 'I will not leave' -
A heavy cloud of smoke hung above Tehran after Israeli aircraft struck two fuel depots. Local media also reported an Israeli strike on the police headquarters in the city centre.
"We haven't been able to sleep since Friday because of the terrible noise," said a Tehran resident who gave her name as Farzaneh.
"Today, they hit a house in our alley, and we were very scared. So we decided to leave Tehran and head to the north of the country."
Some, however, were determined to stay.
"It is natural that war has its own stress, but I will not leave my city," Shokouh Razzazi, 31, told AFP.
AFP images from the Israeli city of Haifa, meanwhile, also showed a column of smoke rising on Sunday evening following an Iranian missile barrage.
The military said rescue teams "have been dispatched to several hit sites in Israel", while the fire services reported rescuers heading to a building on the coast that sustained a "direct hit".
Earlier in the day, in Bat Yam, first responders wearing helmets and headlamps picked through a bombed-out building.
"There was an explosion and I thought the whole house had collapsed," said Bat Yam resident Shahar Ben Zion.
"It was a miracle we survived."
- 'Make a deal' -
Trump said Washington "had nothing to do" with Israel's bombing campaign but threatened to unleash "the full strength and might" of the US military if Iran attacked American interests.
On Sunday, he urged the two foes to "make a deal", adding, however, that "sometimes they have to fight it out" first.
A senior US official told AFP that Trump had urged Israel to drop a plan to assassinate Khamenei.
"We found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran's supreme leader. President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to," said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Asked in an interview with Fox News whether regime change in Iran was one of the objectives of Israel's strikes, Netanyahu said that "it certainly could be the result, because the Iran regime is very weak".
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi maintained Tehran had "solid proof" that US forces had supported Israel in its attacks.
He also told a meeting of foreign diplomats that Iran's actions were a "response to aggression".
"If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop," he added.
Iran scrapped planned nuclear talks with the United States, saying it was "meaningless" to negotiate while under fire.
Iranian media reported Sunday that police had arrested two suspects over alleged links to Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Israel, in turn, said it had taken two individuals into custody over alleged links to Iranian intelligence.
Israel-Iran conflict: latest developments
Jerusalem (AFP) June 15, 2025 -
Israel and Iran traded fire for a third straight day on Sunday, with rising casualties and expanding targets marking an escalation in the conflict between the longtime adversaries.
Overnight Iranian strikes killed at least 10 people in Israel, adding to the growing toll in both countries since Friday when Israel launched a massive wave of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities but also hitting residential areas, sparking retaliation.
The exchange of strikes is the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East, even as international leaders urge de-escalation.
Here are the latest developments:
- Deadly Iranian strikes -
Iran unleashed deadly barrages of missiles at Israel overnight Saturday into Sunday, killing 10 people, including children, and bringing the overall death toll since Tehran launched retaliatory strikes to 13, with 380 others wounded.
The first wave of Israeli strikes on Iran killed 78 people and wounded 320, according to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, but Iranian authorities had not provided an updated toll as of Sunday afternoon.
Iran also struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday.
Israel said it had intercepted seven drones launched towards its territory, as it also faced attack from Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, which on Sunday said they launched several missiles at Israel.
- Israel expands targets -
After targeting Iranian military and nuclear facilities, as well as killing top commanders and scientists, Israel expanded targets to oil infrastructure and government buildings.
Israeli strikes hit two fuel depots in Tehran on Sunday, with AFP journalists seeing fire at a depot in Shahran, northwest of the Iranian capital.
The Israeli military said Sunday its forces struck more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight.
The day before, Israel's military said it was attacking dozens of missile launchers in Iran after announcing it had targeted air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area.
Iranian media on Sunday reported Israeli strikes had targeted the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran as well as a facility affiliated with the ministry in the central city of Isfahan.
- Faltering nuclear diplomacy -
The fierce exchanges of fire came amid talks between Tehran and Washington seeking to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear programme.
Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it denies.
The sixth round of negotiations set for Sunday in Oman have been called off, with Tehran saying it would not attend talks with Washington as long as Israel kept up its attacks.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday hit out at Israel, saying its attacks are an "attempt to undermine diplomacy and derail negotiations".
The top Iranian diplomat also accused Israel of having "crossed a new red line" by targeting Iran's nuclear sites.
Tehran has criticised the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing it of inaction over the Israeli strikes and pledging to limit cooperation with the agency.
- International unease -
Countries have voiced growing alarm over the conflict spilling into the wider region, calling for de-escalation.
Araghchi on Sunday slammed one of Israel's strikes on a major gas facility along the Gulf coast, saying any military activity in the key waters "could involve the entire region -- and possibly the whole world".
He said Tehran had "solid proof" that US forces and bases in the region had supported Israel in its attacks.
Washington -- a top Israel ally and Tehran rival -- has denied US involvement and called for an end to the exchanges of fire.
But on Sunday morning, Trump issued a warning to Iran saying it would experience "the full strength" of the US military if it attacks the United States.
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