Israel claims it has “aerial supremacy” in Tehran as Iran launches new attacks
Iran launched a new wave of missile strikes on Israel earlier Monday, killing five people, while Israel claimed it had achieved “air superiority” on Tehran on the fourth day of the conflict and could fly over the Iranian capital without facing a major threat.
After several days of attacks on Iran's air defense and missile systems, the Israeli military said its aircraft now controls the skies from western Iran to Tehran and destroys more than 120 surface-to-ground missile launchers, accounting for one-third of Iran's total, one-third of Israel's fire in Israel.
“Now we can say that we have achieved a comprehensive supremacy in Tehran's airspace,” said military spokesman Brig.
Meanwhile, Iran announced the launch of about 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation against Israel's fierce attack on its military and nuclear infrastructure, killing at least 224 people since last Friday.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X that a missile caused minor damage near the U.S. consulate in Tel Aviv.
Israel said that so far, Iran has launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones, 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured. In response, the Israeli military said fighter jets had attacked 10 command centers of Quds Force, an elite force of its Revolutionary Guard, which carried out military and intelligence operations outside Iran.
Explosion Rock Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva
Shortly before dawn on Monday, the Israeli defense system intercepted Iranian missiles, possibly a powerful explosion intercepted from Israel's defense system, flowing black smoke plumes into the sky of coastal cities.
Authorities in Petah Tikva, a central Israeli city, said Iranian missiles hit a residential building there, burnt concrete walls and broken windows, tearing the walls off multiple apartments.
Israeli maggot David Adom Emergency Services Ministry reported that two women and two men, all in the 1970s, were killed in the wave of missile strikes that struck four central Israeli sites.
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“We clearly see that our civilians are targeted,” said Dean Elsdunne, a spokesman for Israeli police. “It's just a scene. We have other similar locations near the southern coast.”
Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki heard the air raid alarm and took him to the shelter with his family and showed up after discovering his apartment had been destroyed.
“Thank God, we're fine,” the 60-year-old said.
Despite losing his home, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue his attack on Iran.
“It's totally worth it,” he said. “It's for our children and our grandchildren.”
In addition to those killed, the MDA said that medical staff had evacuated another 87 injured people to the hospital, including a 30-year-old woman, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped under the rubble of the house.
“When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw a huge amount of damage,” said MDA care worker Dr. Gal Rosen.
No signs of conflict
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was amid an early blasting attack in central Israel, and if Israel did so, Iran would stop its strike.
But after a day of intense Israeli air strikes, extending the target beyond military devices to hit refineries and government buildings, the Revolutionary Guard launched a difficult route on Monday, vowing that further strikes would be “more powerful, serious, precise and destructive than previous strikes.”
Health authorities also reported that 1,277 people were injured in Iran and did not distinguish between military officials and civilians.
Rights groups, such as the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group, called human rights activists, also suggest that the death toll from the Iranian government is a major layoff. Human rights activists say more than 400 people have been recorded, including 197 civilians.
Israel believes its attacks on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists are necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran has been insisting that its nuclear program is peaceful, with the United States and others assessing that Tehran has not pursued nuclear weapons since 2003.
But in recent years, Iran has enriched its uranium's ever-growing reserves to near the weapon level, and it is believed that it has the ability to develop multiple weapons within a few months if it chooses to do so.
Prior to Israel's initial attack, its Mossad spy agency positioned the blasted drone and precision weapons inside Iran, and since then, several people have been reportedly detained for suspected espionage.
Iranian authorities hanged a doctor identified as Esmail Fekri, who has been jailed since 2023 for providing Mossad with “sensitive and classified” information.
–Tia Goldenberg and Jerusalem of Tel Aviv, Julia Frankel of Israel, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Isabel Debre and David Rising of Bangkok contributed to the report.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
