TEHRAN (Kashmir English): Due to the ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel, the Israeli authorities have issued a warning to residents in Iran to evacuate from weapons manufacturing facilities.
The Israeli military stated on its social media platform that individuals within Iran should avoid places which it referred to as weapons manufacturing plants and “support institutions”.
“Immediate warning to all Iranian people: All individuals who are present or will soon be present in or near military weapons factories and their affiliated institutions should promptly depart such locations and not return until informed otherwise,” the military’s Farsi language Twitter account stated.
The warnings followed Israeli officials confirming that at least eight were killed, more than 200 wounded, and 35 are still missing after a mass Iranian retaliation attack on Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Iran asserts the strikes, which were in retaliation for previous Israeli moves, hit both military and strategic targets, inflicting heavy damage and destruction.
Rescue operations are still underway by emergency services, as hospitals continue to be swamped with casualties.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that Iranian missiles hit northern Israel. Iran said cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv were bombed using Kheibar, Badr, and Emad missiles.
The situation is tense, with enemy aircraft intruding into Israeli airspace, the Israeli Defense Forces say, and media reports indicating that strategic infrastructure could have been hit.
Previously, Iranian media reported air defence systems were deployed on Saturday over Tehran and six other provinces, on the second day of Israel’s aerial campaign against the Islamic Republic.
Tasnim news agency said air defences were firing at “hostile targets” above Tehran and in the provinces of Hormozgan in southern Iran, Kermanshah and Lorestan to the west, Qom in central Iran, East Azerbaijan in the northwest, and Khuzestan in the southwest. State television confirmed air defence activity in the same locations.
Another news outlet, Fars, posted photos of what it described as the “downing of two Israeli aircraft in Tehran”.
Iran and Israel exchanged missiles and airstrikes at the beginning of Saturday after Israel conducted its largest-ever aerial onslaught against its longstanding foe.
Iran maintains attacks against Israel will go on, senior Iranian military commanders were cited as saying.
