Iran's leaders refuse to call for surrender, warning us to participate – state
The Iranian supreme leader rejected the U.S. call for surrender Wednesday in the face of an Israeli strike, warning that any military involvement of the Americans would cause “irreparable damage” to them in a formal statement by the state television host.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks only once since the strike began came after U.S. President Donald Trump asked for “unconditional surrender” on social media and warned Khamenei that the United States knew where he was but had no plans to kill him, at least not for now. ”
Trump was initially out of reach in a surprise attack on Israel that sparked conflict on Friday, but in recent days has hinted that the U.S. involvement is greater, saying he wants something “much bigger” than the ceasefire. The United States also sent more fighter jets to the region.
An Iranian official warned earlier that U.S. intervention would risk a “total war.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of U.S. troops are located in nearby countries within the range of Iran's weapons. The United States threatens to respond enormously to any attack.
Another Iranian official said the country would continue to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently precluding Trump's demand for Iran to abandon its controversial nuclear program.
Strikes in and around Tehran
The Israeli military said the latest Israeli strike attacked one facility for making uranium centrifuges and another for making missile components. It said it has intercepted 10 missiles as Iran's retaliation attacks diminished. The UN nuclear watchdog said Israel attacked two centrifuge production facilities near and around Tehran.
The Israeli military said it also launched a strike in western Iran, hitting missile storage sites and loading missile launchers.
Israeli strikes attacked several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 585 people, including 239 civilians, were killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
Iran launched about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones to hundreds of Israeli people who died and were injured. Some people crashed into apartment buildings in central Israel, causing great damage, and air strikes sirens repeatedly forced Israelis to escape asylum.
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Iran launched fewer missiles due to the conflict. It has not explained the decline yet, but Israel targets missile-related launchers and other infrastructure.
The Washington-based human rights activist said 239 of the people killed during the Israeli strike were civilians, while 126 were killed as security personnel.
The group also provided detailed casualties during the 2022 protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, which it conducted local reports on the Iran-developed source network.
Iran did not issue regular death tolls during the conflict, which had minimized casualties in the past. The last update issued Monday left the loss dead and 1,277 injured.
In Tehran, including its famous big bazaar, shops have been closed, and people wait on gas pipelines and packaging roads to escape the city to escape attacks.
A major explosion was heard Wednesday around 5 a.m. in Tehran around 5 a.m. after other explosions in the darkness before dawn. Iranian authorities do not provide recognition of the attack, which has become increasingly common as Israeli air strikes intensify.
At least one strike was against Hakimiyeh, a neighbor of eastern Tehran, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.
Israel said it launched a strike after negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on a diplomatic resolution to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, but there was little obvious progress in two months but is still in progress. Trump said the Israeli campaign was after he made a 60-day window for the talks.
Iran Long insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, although it is the only technology that makes uranium rich as high as 60%, away from 90% of weapon-level levels, shorter technology. U.S. intelligence agencies said they do not believe Iran is actively pursuing bombs.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, but they have never been publicly acknowledged.
Iran's ambassador to Geneva Ali Bahreini told reporters that Iran “will continue to produce abundant uranium for peaceful purposes as we need it.”
He rejected any topics of the Israeli strike setbacks on Iran's nuclear development, saying: “Our scientists will continue their work.”
He said Trump's remarks were “completely unfounded” and “very hostile” and Iran cannot ignore them. He said the Iranian authorities were “warned” about comments and decided whether the United States crossed any boundaries. “Once the red line crosses, the response will appear.”
Israel welcomes first repatriation flight
Israelis began returning flights for the first time since the country's international airports were closed at the beginning of the conflict.
Airport spokesman Lisa Dvir said two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus landed at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
Israel shut down its space to commercial flights due to ballistic missile attacks, causing thousands of Israelis to strand abroad. The conflict destroyed the flight modes throughout the region.
–Frankel reports from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi are in Iran, and Jamesy Keaten in Geneva.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
