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LAST UPDATE | 15 Mar
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS have vowed to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the war between Iran, Israel and the United States entered its third week.
In a statement published on its Sepah News website, the Guards said they would continue pursuing the Israeli leader.
“If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force,” the statement said.
The conflict has intensified across the region in recent days, with Iran launching fresh missile barrages toward Israel. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv overnight as Israeli air defences intercepted incoming strikes.
Israel’s military said it had carried out another wave of attacks inside Iran, targeting missile launchers, air defence systems and weapons production sites.
The Israeli air force said more than 200 targets were struck in a 24-hour period.
At least 15 people were reported killed in a strike in the Iranian city of Isfahan, according to Iranian news agencies, although Israel’s military said it had not targeted the area and the US declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has called for international naval forces to help protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil route that normally carries around one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supply.
Shipping through the strait has been severely disrupted by Iranian attacks and threats, pushing oil prices sharply higher.
“Many countries… will be sending war ships, in conjunction with the United States… to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump said in a social media post.
The United States and Israel have continued strikes on Iranian military infrastructure.
US forces said they destroyed missile bunkers and naval mine storage facilities on Iran’s key Kharg Island oil export hub, though energy facilities were reportedly spared.
Donald Trump said yesterday that the US could carry out additional strikes on Kharg Island, dismissing the idea of a quick peace deal with Tehran.
“The terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump told NBC News, claiming that Iran was seeking an agreement.
After days of mixed messages from the White House on the duration of the US campaign against Iran, he said American strikes had “totally demolished” much of Kharg Island and suggested the military might hit the site “a few more times just for fun.”
“We’ve totally decimated it,” he added.
“Except, as you know, I didn’t touch the energy lines, because rebuilding those would take years.”
Trump also raised questions, without providing evidence, about the health of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and said it was unclear whether Iran had laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for global oil trade that has been largely blocked since the conflict began two weeks ago.
Iran has warned it will retaliate if its oil infrastructure is targeted, threatening US-linked energy companies in the region.
Tehran has also accused the US of launching strikes on Kharg Island from bases in the United Arab Emirates, including areas near Dubai and Ras Al-Khaimah, though no evidence was provided.
Iranian officials urged civilians to leave areas near ports such as Jebel Ali in Dubai and Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, claiming US forces were operating there.
Elsewhere in the region, several countries reported intercepting Iranian drones and missiles.
Saudi Arabia said its air defences destroyed 10 drones over Riyadh and the kingdom’s eastern region, while sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were reported over Jerusalem.
Black smoke was also seen rising over the Emirati port city of Fujairah after debris from an intercepted drone struck an oil facility, causing a fire.
The war, which began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has killed more than 1,200 people in Iran, according to Iranian health ministry figures.
Lebanon has also been drawn into the war after militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel following former Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.
Israel has responded with air and ground attacks, killing at least 826 people, according to the Lebanese authorities.
It has also issued evacuation orders covering hundreds of square kilometres of Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and prompting warnings of a humanitarian disaster.
Hezbollah said it was engaged in “direct clashes” with Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam late on Saturday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said up to 3.2 million people have been displaced across Iran as fighting continues.
Additional reporting from AFP and Press Association
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