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Israeli attacks hit the Iranian capital Tehran overnight as the IDF announced a “new stage” in its campaign against Iran, with US and Israeli officials hinting at escalating strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said his military has completed the initial stage of “surprise opening blow” and that it was “now moving to the next phase of the campaign” with surprises ahead.
“We will intensify the strike on the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities,” he said in a statement carried by the Times of Israel.
“We have additional surprising moves in our hands, which I do not intend to reveal.”
His remarks followed an announcement by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth that “firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically”.
US president Donald Trump has ruled out sending troops to Iran, saying it would be a “waste of time”, but indicated he would like to see Iran’s leadership structure removed. “We want to go in and clean out everything,” he said.
The IDF also conducted renewed strikes against what it described as Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. Hundreds of thousands of people in the southern suburbs of the city were ordered to leave their homes by the IDF yesterday, causing scenes of panic.
Israel launched strikes against what it claims to be Hezbollah targets in the area. Hours earlier, Israel’s military issued evacuation orders affecting more than 500,000 people. The strikes are a significant escalation after Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into Israel.
Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has urged the US to move “very quickly” with its investigation into a deadly strike on a school in southern Iran, which Tehran has blamed on the US and Israel. Türk also said the IDF’s evacuation order for southern Beirut raises serious concerns under international law, “in particular when it comes to issues around forced transfer”.
Officials in Azerbaijan said they are withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran for their own safety. It comes a day after Azerbaijan said four Iranian drones had crossed its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave.
Fatih Boril, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), sought to allay fears over a global oil crisis, saying there is “plenty of oil” in the markets. “We have no oil shortage … there is a huge surplus,” he said.
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