Shafaq News- Tehran
Iran on Saturday launched a new wave of missile strikes toward Israeli-controlled territory and hit an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, as the war between Washington and Tel Aviv on one side and Tehran on the other entered its eighth day.
Iranian media outlets said the latest barrage was fired minutes after a previous round of missiles. The Israeli army confirmed launches from Iran and said air-defense systems were activated to intercept them, while the Home Front Command instructed residents in affected areas to enter protected spaces when alerts were issued.
At sea, the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that a tanker identified as Louise P, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, was struck by what it described as a suicide drone in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Iranian commanders, the IRGC added, had earlier warned that assets linked to Israel or the United States in the region would be treated as “legitimate targets.”
Around the same time, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry reported that air-raid sirens had sounded across the country and urged citizens and residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s top wartime military command, claimed that attacks on US facilities across the region over the past 24 hours killed 21 members of the US Fifth Fleet and left others wounded, while about 200 personnel at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates were killed or wounded. Washington has yet to comment on the claims.
Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Israel of targeting civilian airports and an Iran Air passenger aircraft in the southern city of Bushehr, describing the incidents as “cowardly attacks” and warning that Tehran would respond “forcefully.” The ministry also criticized international sports bodies after reports that Tehran’s Azadi Sports Complex —one of the country’s main football stadiums— was struck during earlier raids, asking whether FIFA or the International Olympic Committee would comment.
The Israeli army, for its part, said its air force carried out a large overnight wave of strikes across Tehran, including at Mehrabad Airport, where it claimed 16 aircraft belonging to the IRGC’s Quds Force were destroyed. According to the military, the aircraft had been used to transport weapons and funds to Hezbollah and other allied groups across the Middle East.
The current escalation follows joint US–Israeli strikes on Iranian sites on February 28 that hit several locations across the country. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that one strike hit a girls’ school, killing 168 students. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks against Israel and US military facilities across the region, including bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.