In a message published on social media X, Israel Katz wrote that “any leader appointed by the Iranian terrorist regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the United States, the free world, and the countries in the region, and oppress the Iranian people will be a target for elimination.”
The statements come after Israel attacked, on Tuesday, a building associated with Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for selecting the supreme leader. On Saturday, an Israeli attack killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 86, marking the beginning of the current war.
However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have launched around 40 missiles against American and Israeli targets, in the 17th wave of retaliatory attacks since the start of bombings on Iranian territory. The statement was read on Iranian state television.
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In Israel, air raid sirens sounded in the morning before the missiles were launched, but emergency services indicated that there were no reported injuries. In turn, the Israeli army announced that it had attacked dozens of targets in Iran, including command centers in Tehran linked to Internal Security, Revolutionary Guard to the paramilitary force Basij.
According to the Red Crescent, the number of deaths in Iran has already exceeded 555 since the start of the bombings. In Israel, Iranian attacks have so far caused ten fatalities.
President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that the operation initiated on Saturday aims to “eliminate imminent threats” from Iran, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the joint action as a response to an “existential threat” to the State of Israel.
