Israel claims killing of Iranian commanders as conflict enters second week

The US State Department has started evacuating Americans from Israel, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced Saturday, as the Israel-Iran conflict enters a second week.

“The Department of State has begun assisted departure flights from Israel,” Huckabee wrote in a post on X, asking Americans who are looking to be evacuated to complete a form.

Huckabee also shared safety tips, including advice to learn the location of the nearest bomb shelter or other hardened shelter.

The State Department has been preparing to evacuate Americans from Israel for several days as Israel and Iran trade strikes and President Donald Trump considers US involvement.

CNN spoke to Americans who are desperate to get out of the country earlier Saturday.

Israel has delayed the possibility of Iran building a nuclear bomb by “at least two or three years” after carrying out its recent strikes on the country, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has claimed in an interview.

“What we did until now was already very significant. I believe we, according to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for (Iran) to have (a) nuclear bomb,” Sa’ar said in an interview with the Axel Springer media group published today.

The fact that Israel has killed a number of Iranian military officials since June 13 is “extremely important,” Sa’ar said, noting that he does not “believe” in diplomacy with Iran.

“I don’t believe so much in diplomacy with Iran. All diplomatic efforts until now was not successful,” he said.

An Iranian military spokesperson warned that arms exports to Israel will be deemed “legitimate targets” by Tehran, as the two countries continue trading strikes Saturday.

Military or radar equipment sent to Israel “will be considered as aiding aggression” against Iran, the spokesperson for the engineering wing of Iran’s armed forces said in a Telegram video.

He claimed Israel had suffered significant radar and air defense losses in recent days, adding that the Israeli military is grappling with ammunition and equipment shortages. CNN cannot independently verify the claims.

“Any transfer of military or radar equipment by ship or aircraft to assist the Zionist regime will be regarded as direct involvement in the aggression and treated accordingly by our armed forces,” the spokesperson added.

Some context: Israel launched its military campaign against Iran on June 13, triggering retaliatory strikes from Tehran.

An initial diplomatic push between European foreign ministers and their Iranian counterpart proved futile on Friday. Tehran said it would not start discussions with the US, Israel’s top arms supplier, so long as Israel’s bombing campaign persists.

A CNN team on the ground heard loud booms east of Tehran, moments after Iranian air defenses activated in the capital.

CNN footage showed bright flashes piercing the night skies over the city at around 9:30 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).

The loud sounds of anti-aircraft fire can be heard overhead. The CNN team says the activity is ongoing, with detonations continuing in the distance.

Sana Noor Haq contributed reporting to this post.

A B-2 Spirit Bomber from the U.S. Air Force is seen during an annual Red Flag military exercise in Nevada, on January 23, 2024.

Multiple US B-2 bombers appear to have taken off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Friday night and are heading west, according to flight-tracking data reviewed by CNN, as President Donald Trump weighs his military options over a potential airstrike in Iran.

A US defense official said there has been no order given to move forward with any kind of operation against Iran using the B-2s. As of Saturday, the planes are flying over the Pacific and appear to be headed toward Guam.

Two US defense officials cautioned that any movement of B-2s does not mean an operation is imminent but rather is intended to provide the president with options.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. Trump is set to hold a meeting with his national security team in the Oval Office this evening and tomorrow.

On Friday night, eight US Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers took off from Altus, Oklahoma, according to data from FlightRadar24. Over Kansas, the tankers refueled two groups of planes, identified on air traffic control audio by their call signs MYTEE11 flt and MYTEE21 flt. The call sign MYTEE has previously been associated with special activity flights by B-2 bombers, and multiple flight trackers on social media said that the planes being refueled were B-2 bombers out of Whiteman Air Force Base.

B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow Nuclear Facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these bombs, which weight an impressive 30,000 pounds each.

CNN’s Betsy Klein and Annoa Abekah-Mensah contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated where Whiteman Air Force Base is located. It is in Missouri.

Israel’s foreign minister on Saturday claimed Cypriot authorities thwarted a planned Iranian terror attack targeting Israelis in Cyprus.

“Thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services, the terror attack was thwarted,” Gideon Sa’ar said in a post on X.

Police in Cyprus arrested a British national on suspicion of terrorism-related offenses and espionage on Saturday, according to the country’s public broadcaster. The suspect is being held in custody for eight days, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation said.

A spokesperson for the British foreign office told CNN: “We are in contact with the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man.”

CNN has reached out to Cyprus police and the country’s foreign office for comment.

Iran’s air defense systems have been activated east and west of the capital Tehran, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

Earlier today, Israel and Iran unleashed new strikes after fighting entered a second week.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, on June 12.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country is ready to “provide guarantees” and “build trust” about the country’s nuclear activities, state news agency IRNA reported, after France’s President Emmanuel Macron expressed concerns in a phone call Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready for negotiation and dialogue to resolve issues, but any talks or preconditions will only be accepted within the framework of international laws and norms,” Pezeshkian said in a statement Saturday.

“From the beginning, we have sought to strengthen cooperation with all countries of the world based on mutual trust and respect. However, it was the Zionist regime that disrupted this path from day one,” he said.

Remember: Israel unleashed mass attacks on Iran on June 13 that it says targeted nuclear sites and high-ranking military officers, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran. The weeklong fighting has already inflicted a bitter human cost.

Iran has built up its nuclear infrastructure since the 1960s, with some facilities buried underground. It is capable of most stages of uranium production, from mining to enrichment — and has long maintained the program is peaceful, specifically to generate energy for civilian use.

Karen (right) and Omri (left) Mamon told CNN Saturday June 21 they have been trying to find a way out of Israel back home to Florida since the Israeli-Iranian conflict broke out on June 13.

Karen and Omri Mamon, dual American-Israeli citizens, traveled to Israel last month to attend the wedding of Omri’s sister. They didn’t think they would spend their time afterward moving from one house to another, searching for shelter.

A week after the wedding, Israel launched its attack on Iran. Most flights out of Ben Gurion Airport were canceled, leaving many stranded and unable to get home.

“The first night, we went down to the shelter three times, and since then, we’re just jumping between houses trying to find safe rooms. We’ve been trying to find a way out of Israel back home to Florida since then,” Omri Mamon told CNN.

Mamon said they’ve lived in Israel before and experienced having to shelter, “but this time is different.”

The Mamons said their main priority was getting their son, who has autism, back home. “He had a really rough time here with the sirens, noises, the shelters, and lots of people shouting,” Karen Mamon said.

Dozens of Americans who have been trying to leave Israel gathered at a hotel in central Israel today, where US embassy consular staff began processing their departures.

Earlier in the week, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on social media that the embassy was arranging evacuation flights and ships for American citizens who wish to leave. Huckabee did not say when the evacuation efforts would begin.

Several Americans at the hotel told CNN that the embassy had organized flights to Athens, and from there, they would be able to catch flights back to the US. It was unclear, though, when those flights would be scheduled.

Watch CNN’s report from central Israel below:

People stand on a rooftop amidst billowing smoke following an overnight Israeli strike in Tehran on Tuesday.

Some of Iran’s internet access restrictions have been eased, after the country earlier this week was sent into a near-total blackout, according to Iran’s communications minister.

“Connectivity and communication between Iranians abroad and inside the country via domestic messaging apps has been enabled,” Sattar Hashemi said in a statement on Telegram Saturday.

According to the ministry, Iranians abroad can now contact their families inside Iran through domestic messaging apps including Baleh, Rubika, Eitaa and Soroush.

The ministry said unspecified “efforts” had led to a reduction in restrictions, but denied a state media report that international internet services would resume by 8 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. ET).

Iran imposed nationwide temporary restrictions on internet access Wednesday, citing security concerns. Iranians faced internet restrictions long before the conflict with Israel, and many use workarounds to stay online.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says a centrifuge workshop in Iran’s nuclear research complex in Isfahan was damaged in Israeli strikes, but there is no danger of hazardous materials leakage.

The workshop manufactured machines used to enrich uranium, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In an update posted on the IAEA website, Director General Rafael Grossi said the workshop had previously been under IAEA monitoring as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers in 2015.

Earlier today, Isfahan’s deputy provincial governor was cited by the semi-official Fars news agency saying Israeli airstrikes earlier in the day had targeted Iran’s largest nuclear research complex.

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it is targeting military installations in Iran, while the Iranian government insists that the majority of dead and injured are civilians.

“My kitten went to the window and I went to grab it, and there was a blast,” one woman who has had five operations tells CNN’s Fred Pleitgen in Tehran.

Hear more from Iranians injured in airstrikes:

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Iranians injured by airstrikes speak to CNN from hospital beds in Tehran

01:54 - Source: CNN

Iranians injured by airstrikes speak to CNN from hospital beds in Tehran

01:54

Israel’s military says it has intercepted 99% of the Iranian drones launched at the country since the start of the conflict more than one week ago.

The country’s layered aerial defense system has intercepted more than 470 one-way attack drones, the Israel Defense Forces said, including approximately 40 that were launched overnight.

In a rare penetration of Israel’s aerial defenses, one drone struck the town of Beit Shean in northern Israel Saturday morning and another landed in an open area in southern Israel.

Iran has fired more than 1,000 drones since the start of the conflict, many of which have fallen short or been intercepted by other countries.

Smoke billows from an explosion in southwest Tehran on June 16.

Over 400 people have been killed in Iran since the beginning of the Israeli-Iranian conflict last Friday, Iran state broadcaster IRIB reported today, citing Iran’s health ministry. Thousands of people have been injured, it added.

“As of this morning, the Israeli regime’s hands are stained with the blood of 400 defenseless Iranians, and it has injured 3,056 people with its missiles and drones,” the health ministry said, according to IRIB.

“Most of the casualties and fatalities were civilians,” it said.

State-linked Tasnim news agency reported earlier today that Israeli strikes in Iran have killed 54 women and children since June 13, citing government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani.

A protester holds a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, on Friday.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, The New York Times reports, citing three Iranian officials familiar with the matter.

In the event a supreme leader dies, Iran’s constitution requires the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body, to pick a successor. The process has only been used once since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Khamenei himself was elected in 1989.

Khamenei wants to ensure a quick, orderly transition in the event of his death, the Times reported, citing the officials.

After reportedly rejecting an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, US President Donald Trump stated this week that Iran’s supreme leader is an “easy target.”

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. “He is an easy target but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out targeting Khamenei either, saying the death of the supreme leader would not “escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict.”

On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz went further, declaring that Khamenei cannot be allowed to “continue to exist” after an Iranian missile struck a hospital in Israel.

Citing the officials, the Times reported that top officials in Iran are making preparations for a wide range of outcomes if the war intensifies while Trump considers whether to intervene, adding that the regime’s chain of command has been hit hard in Israeli strikes but appears to be functioning.

Israel claimed to have killed two commanders in Iran’s elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in strikes overnight.

The Israeli military said it has “eliminated” Behnam Shahriyari, who was reportedly responsible for weapons transfers from Iran to its proxies across the Middle East. The Israel Defense Forces earlier said it killed Saeed Izadi, who is sanctioned by the United States and, according to the UK government, is the head of the Palestine branch of the Quds Force.

More about the force: The Quds (Jerusalem) Force is an arm of the IRGC responsible for operations outside Iran and is tasked with coordinating with allied militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

The IRGC was established in the aftermath of the country’s revolution in 1979 and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Since the October 7 attacks in 2023, Israeli government officials have sought to emphasize Hamas’ ties to Iran. At the time, the US said Iran was surprised by the October 7 attacks and that the US did not have direct evidence linking Iran to the planning and execution of the assault. Both Israel and the US have said Iran is broadly culpable because of its historic support for the group.

In 2020, Qasem Soleimani — head of the Quds Force at the time since 1998 — was killed by a US airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport.

The US designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

French President Emmanuel Macron during a news conference at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on June 13.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France will “accelerate” negotiations between European nations and Iran, following a phone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Macron said he “expressed deep concern about Iran’s nuclear program” to Pezeshkian during the phone call on Saturday.

Foreign ministers from France, the UK and Germany met in Switzerland for talks Friday with their Iranian counterpart, which ended with no tangible agreement on how to move forward.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country won’t negotiate with the US while Israeli bombardment continues, warning that if the US were to get involved in the war, it would be “very dangerous for everybody.”

Israel’s military has said its air force’s fighter jets “are currently striking military infrastructure in southwestern Iran.”

This is a developing story, more to follow.

The Israeli military says it has “eliminated” Behnam Shahriyari, the second Iranian commander in the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be targeted in Israeli strikes overnight.

The Israeli Air Force killed Shahriyari in his vehicle while he was traveling in western Iran, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Saturday.

It said Shahriyari was responsible for weapons transfers from Iran to its proxies across the Middle East, and worked for years to arm various militant organizations.

Shahriyari is sanctioned by the United States and, according to the UK government, has been involved in hostile activity by an armed group backed by the Iranian government, facilitating “the destabilization of Israel, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.”

The Quds Force is an arm of the IRGC responsible for operations outside Iran and is tasked with coordinating with allied militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Earlier on Saturday, the IDF said it killed Saeed Izadi, another Iranian commander in the Quds Force.

In a briefing to reporters, IDF Chief Spokesperson Ephraim Defrin described Izadi and Shahriyari as being at the “forefront of the Iranian project of pushing the war into Israel’s territory.”

Potentially “prolonged campaign”: Defrin also said the Israeli Air Force continued strikes on a nuclear facility in the Iranian city of Isfahan.

Defrin said Israel’s military is engaged in “one of the most complex wars in Israel’s history” and warned the Israeli public to prepare for a “prolonged campaign” as the IDF still has “targets and goals” in Iran.

“We’ll continue until the existing threat is removed,” Defrin said.

Tehran residents have told CNN that although the Iranian capital remains relatively quiet, people are trying to return to normal life ahead of Sunday when the work week will resume.

“Things are fine. Roads are getting busier back into Tehran from other areas because the government has said work begins on Sunday,” one resident who had just returned to the city told CNN on Saturday, asking that their name be withheld.

The work week usually starts from Saturday in Iran, but the country has been largely offline since nationwide restrictions on internet access were imposed across the country on Wednesday, which the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said was due to security concerns.

Semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday that international internet services will resume by 8 p.m. local time on Saturday, citing the communications minister.

NetBlocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet governance, said Saturday that its telemetry confirmed a “partial restoration of connectivity in Iran after approximately 62 hours of severe disruption.”

“While some regions have seen improvements, overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels, continuing to hinder people’s ability to communicate freely and access independent information,” it added.

Another Tehran resident, who had planned to get a haircut Saturday, told CNN: “Yesterday and today Tehran has been quieter. The city is so nice, without traffic and so many people and everything is available in abundance: Gas, food.”

While Tehran remains quiet, locals in nearby cities have reported longer queues for ATMs and bakeries, after residents from the capital arrived seeking shelter. Video from Damavand, east of Tehran, showed people queuing for bread, with one man noting the bakery was unusually busy.

Israeli strikes in Iran have killed 54 women and children, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani was cited as saying in state media.

State-linked Tasnim news agency quoted Mohajerani as saying 94 other women and children were injured since Israel started its military campaign against Iran on June 13.

It has been days since Iran has issued a full death toll from the conflict. On Sunday, the health ministry said 224 had been killed while in Israel the death toll stands at 24.

Claim hospitals hit: Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi meanwhile said Israeli strikes in Iran have hit three hospitals and killed two doctors.

State-linked Fars News Agency quoted Zafarghandi as saying “two members of the national health team — an obstetrician and a pediatrician along with her child” had been killed since Israel started its military campaign against Iran on June 13.

Seven ambulances were also damaged, and 14 emergency medical staff injured in the strikes, Jafar Miadfar, the head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services Organization was cited as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.

Israeli soldiers and first responders check the damage caused to a building from an Iranian strike in Beit She'an today.

Two Iranian drones penetrated Israel’s air defenses and struck sites in the north and south, according to the Israeli military, marking one of the rare instances in which one-way attack drones from Iran successfully breached Israeli air defenses.

The drone in northern Israel struck the town of Beit Shean near the Jordanian border, hitting a two-story home, according to emergency responders.

Images from the scene showed a gaping hole in the side of the building, along with its windows and doors blown out. The area around the home was littered with debris and dirt from the impact.

Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency service, said it has not found any casualties at the scene as it continues to search through the rubble.

A second drone pierced Israel’s air defenses and landed in an open area in the south of the country, according to the military.

The vast majority of drones launched from Iran since Israel launched an attack on the country have been intercepted before they reach their target.

The barrage consisted of at least six drones, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

A number of other drones that approached Israel at approximately the same time were intercepted, according to the IDF, including in the Arava desert in southern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

Iran has launched more than 1,000 drones since Israel first launched its attack against Iran last week, an Israeli military official said.

Iran’s foreign minister has said his country cannot negotiate with the US while Israeli bombardment continues, warning that if the US were to get involved in the war, it would be “very dangerous for everybody.”

“It is obvious I cannot go to the negotiations with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul, where foreign minister from member nations of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met on Saturday.

He went on to call for the “aggression” to come to an end “in order for us to come back to diplomacy.”

The trip marks another round of diplomacy for Araghchi , who took part in talks with European powers in Switzerland on Friday.

The Israeli military has said it has “eliminated” Saeed Izadi, an Iranian commander in the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In a statement on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its air force targeted and killed Izadi “in a hideout in the heart of Iran, following a prolonged intelligence-gathering effort.”

“Izadi was responsible for military coordination between the senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian regime with key figures in the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said.

Izadi is sanctioned by the United States and, according to the UK government, is the head of the Palestine branch of the Quds Force.

Iranian state media reported earlier on Saturday that a strike on a residential building in the central Iranian city of Qom killed two people and injured four others.

What is Quds? The Quds (Jerusalem) Force is an arm of the IRGC responsible for operations outside Iran and is tasked with coordinating with allied militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Defense Minister Israel Katz described the strike on social media as a “a major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force,” accusing Izadi of helping plan Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

“Israel’s long arm will reach all its enemy,” Katz said.

Since October 7, Israeli government officials have sought to emphasize Hamas’s ties to Iran. In the wake of the attack, the US said Iran was surprised by the attack itself and that the US did not have direct evidence linking Iran to the planning and execution of the assault. Both Israel and the US have said that Iran is broadly culpable because of its historic support for the group.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after his meeting with the E3 group of European ministers in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.

Iran is uncertain about trusting the United States in peace talks, its foreign minister has said, suggesting President Donald Trump’s negotiations were a “cover” for Israeli attacks on his country.

Abbas Araghchi accused Washington of “a betrayal to diplomacy,” saying US officials “must show their determination for negotiating a solution,” in an on-camera interview with NBC News on Friday.

“We have come to the conclusion that negotiations by the US was in fact a cover for what the Israelis did,” he added.

Araghchi arrived in Turkey on Friday night, ahead of a Saturday meeting of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, representing the collective voice of the Muslim world.

Speaking to Iranian media in Istanbul, Araghchi said he would “make full use of this opportunity in order to make the innocent and righteous voice of the Iranian people heard.”

The minister said he also planned to meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials.

People spend the night in a public shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel, as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, on Saturday.

Iran and Israel have traded fresh air attacks as their conflict pushes into a second week, with diplomatic efforts on Friday showing no signs of meaningful progress.

An Iranian official has told CNN that US President Donald Trump could end it with one call to the Israeli side – adding that Iran will only return to US negotiations if Israel stops attacking it.

This all follows fruitless efforts to de-escalate the conflict in Geneva, where top European diplomats met with their Iranian counterpart on Friday.

Here are the latest developments:

Iran will not give in easily and may want to prolong its conflict with Israel to inflict more damage on its long-time enemy, security analyst Afshon Ostovar told CNN.

“One thing that they can do is hold on and make this conflict much more costly for Israel,” said Ostovar, an associate professor at the California-based Naval Postgraduate School.

“From Iran’s perspective, it has nothing really to lose,” he said, adding that “its nuclear program is already in ashes” and its proxies in the region – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen – had already been “degraded” by Israeli attacks in recent years.

Ostovar said Iran’s last piece of leverage might be the option of stringing out the war.

Indian students evacuated from Iran leave New Delhi's IGI Airport, after they arrived back in India on Thursday.

India will evacuate all of its nationals from Iran, New Delhi’s embassy in Tehran said in a post on X Saturday.

Indians in Iran were advised to contact the embassy via Telegram or emergency phone numbers.

There were 10,765 overseas Indians in Iran as of March 27, according to figures posted by India’s External Affairs Ministry.

Israel’s military said it shot down several drones on Saturday morning local time, in a fresh wave of Iranian attacks.

An alert was triggered after an aircraft was spotted flying over several valleys in northern Israel while others were intercepted in the south, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The IDF did not specify how many drones had been launched or intercepted.

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above Netanya, Israel, during a round of Iranian missile attacks on Saturday.

Iran rejects Israel’s claim that dwindling missile stocks have forced it to cut back on launches, a senior Iranian official has told CNN.

The official said Iran has changed its missile policy, replacing quantity with quality. Instead of firing large numbers of missiles, they said, Iran is using more advanced precision missiles against sensitive military and security centers.

It was “observed that Iran launched a missile and the missile easily made its way through American THAAD, Patriot, Arrow 3, Arrow 2, David’s Sling and the family of Iron Dome systems, striking the predetermined target,” the official said, referring to Israel’s latticework of missile defense systems.

Israel “should not be happy about the decrease in the number of missiles fired and better keep silent and merely become an observer in the face of the new balance of Iranian superior power,” they said.

Life seems to be slowly returning to normal in Tehran after many residents left in the wake of Israel’s bombing campaign and US President Donald Trump’s warning to flee the Iranian capital.

Recent strikes seem to have been limited but Iran’s air defense system is still at work over the city, especially at night.

While the streets are still much emptier than usual, more shops and even some restaurants are re-opening. Traffic is picking up again on the roads and we got into our first traffic jam on Friday, after arriving here mid-week.

There also seems to be no shortage of food or fuel. The supermarkets are open and well stocked, and we drove past several gas stations, all of which had fuel, and there was no wait time to get to the pump.

This satellite image taken in March shows the Isfahan enrichment plant in Iran.

Israeli airstrikes on Saturday targeted Iran’s nuclear research complex in Isfahan, the country’s largest, the deputy provincial governor told the semi-official Fars news agency.

The deputy governor said there was no leakage of hazardous materials because of the attack, but residents were advised to avoid the area so rescue and crisis management personnel could do their jobs.

Several other areas of Isfahan province were also targeted, but no casualties have been reported, the deputy governor said.

Iranian air defenses intercepted the Israeli attacks, but some got through, according to the official’s account.

The “majority of explosions heard during the attacks were emanating from air defense systems’ engagements, and others were due to enemy attacks,” the Fars report quoted the official as saying, without naming them.

According to the semi-official MEHR news agency, Akbar Salehi, deputy for security and law enforcement at the Isfahan governor’s office, said Israel carried out attacks on several locations in the province, but the oil refinery was not hit.

Some context: Israel struck the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center in the first days of the conflict, with an Israel Defense Forces official saying last Saturday the facility sustained significant damage. The International Atomic Energy Agency said four buildings at the site were critically damaged, but a spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said damage was limited.

Explosions have been heard in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, Iranian state media reports.

The news comes shortly after the Israel Defense Forces said it had begun a new wave of attacks in Iran.

Semi-official news agency Fars reported that the city’s air defense system had been activated.

Isfahan is the home of Iran’s largest nuclear research complex, which has been previously targeted by Israeli strikes.

This screengrab of a video shows a damaged building in Qom, Iran, following an Israeli strike on a residential building on Saturday.

A strike on a residential building in the central Iranian city of Qom killed two people and injured four others on Saturday, according to reports from state media.

The strike, which hit the building’s fourth floor, was reported shortly after the Israel Defense Forces said it had begun a new wave of attacks in Iran.

The holy city of Qom is close to Iran’s secretive Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

One of those killed was a 16-year-old, according to a statement from Morteza Heydari, spokesman for the Qom Provincial Administration, made to Iranian media.

Video geolocated by CNN shows impact damage to a building in southwestern Qom. In the video a fire can be seen burning on the upper floors of a multistory building.

At the same time, semi-official Nour News reported air defenses were active over the capital Tehran, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north.

Video released by Israel’s national emergency services showed a building on fire in the city of Holon, near commercial hub Tel Aviv, following Iran’s latest missile strikes on the country.

Israeli fire and rescue services confirmed in a statement on Telegram that they were working to extinguish a blaze on the roof of a three-story building in Gush Dan, the wider metropolitan area around Tel Aviv, which includes Holon. The statement did not specify the city.

The fire was caused by shrapnel after a missile was intercepted, according to the statement.

Emergency agency Magen David Adom said no injuries were reported.

Israel has begun a new wave of attacks in Iran, the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday, local time.