Powerful explosions shook the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Sunday after the Israeli military announced that it had launched a new series of bombings against government buildings and was now striking the "heart of the city."
US President Donald Trump has said that the heavy bombing of Iran will continue throughout the week or "as long as necessary" until the US achieves its goal, which, according to Trump, is "peace throughout the Middle East."
On Sunday, he told Fox News that 48 "Iranian leaders" have been killed. He told CNBC that:
Things are developing in a very positive way right now, a very positive way. Everything is ahead of schedule.
He also wrote on Truth Social that nine Iranian warships have been destroyed and sunk. According to Trump, the Iranian Navy headquarters has also been largely destroyed.
Trump says in an interview with The Atlantic that Iran has agreed to talk to the United States, but without giving further details. There has been no comment from Iran about any talks.
The ex-president is dead
Israel says it has destroyed about half of Iran's stockpile of missiles and prevented the production of at least 1,500 more missiles. And more strikes are coming.
On Sunday afternoon, the country's military announced that it had "launched a new wave of attacks" and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that attacks on Iran will intensify in the coming days.
One of those killed in the attacks, according to the semi-state Iranian news agency ILNA, was the country's hardline former president Mahmud Ahmadinejad. The 69-year-old was killed along with a bodyguard at his home in Tehran, the agency said.
Iranian television is simultaneously reporting Iranian air and missile strikes on US bases in the vicinity. President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a televised speech that the killing of Ali Khamenei was “an open declaration of war against Muslims” and that Iran sees retaliation as a “legitimate right and obligation.”
Warns of attacks
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Saturday night that at least 200 people had been killed and nearly 750 wounded in the attacks. The number has not been confirmed, and it is unclear how many were killed on Sunday. Data from the country is scattered and often comes from unreliable sources.
Local authorities say more than 100 students at a girls' school in southern Iran were among the dead. The school is located in a closed area belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to the BBC. A US military spokesman told CNN that the reports were "being investigated."
