Iranian police have intercepted 14 drones and identified hostile drone manufacturing workshops and drone transport vehicles in various provinces, police spokesman Saeed Montazerolmahdi said on Wednesday, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency.
The move comes after Iran and Israel launched fresh missile strikes on each other on Wednesday, as the air war between the long-time foes continues into its sixth day despite US President Donald Trump's call for Tehran's unconditional surrender.
The Israeli military said two salvos of Iranian missiles were fired at Israel in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The explosions were heard over Tel Aviv.
Israel ordered residents of a southwestern district of Tehran to evacuate so its air force could strike Iranian military targets. Iranian news sites reported that Israel attacked a university affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the east of the capital.
Iranian news sites reported that Israel also attacked a university linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the east of the country and the Khojar ballistic missile production facility near Tehran, which was also hit by Israeli airstrikes last October.
The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence says Iran has the largest number of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. Iran has said its ballistic missiles are an important deterrent and retaliatory tool against the U.S., Israel and other potential regional targets.
Trump warned on social media on Tuesday that U.S. patience was wearing thin. While he said he had no intention of killing Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “yet,” his comments suggested a more aggressive stance toward Iran as he weighs whether to deepen U.S. involvement.
“We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We have no plans to take him out (kill him!), at least not yet… Our patience is running out.”
Three minutes later, Trump posted a message: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
A source familiar with the internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering a range of options, including joining Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
A White House spokesman said Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Trump also held a 90-minute meeting with the National Security Council on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the conflict, a White House official said. Details were not immediately available.
The United States is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East and expanding the deployment of other warplanes, three U.S. officials told Reuters. So far, the United States has taken only indirect actions in the current conflict with Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired at Israel.
A source with access to U.S. intelligence reports said Iran had moved several ballistic missile launchers, but it was difficult to determine whether they were aimed at U.S. or Israeli forces.
Khamenei's top military and military advisers have been killed in Israeli strikes, weakening his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic missteps, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.
As Iran's leaders face the worst security breach since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the country's cyber command has banned officials from using communications equipment and mobile phones, the Fars news agency reported.
Iranian media reported that Israel has launched a “massive cyber war” against Iran's digital infrastructure.
Since Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking a war in the Gaza Strip, Khamenei’s regional influence has waned as Israel has targeted Iranian proxies, from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Iraq. Iran’s close ally, Syria’s authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad, has been toppled.
Israel launched its biggest air war against Iran on Friday after saying the Islamic Republic was on the brink of developing nuclear weapons.
Iran denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and claims a right to peaceful nuclear technology, including enrichment, as a party to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East believed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel neither denies nor confirms this.
Netanyahu stressed he would not back down until Iran's nuclear development was halted, while Trump said Israeli attacks could stop if Iran agreed to strict limits on uranium enrichment.
Iranian officials said 224 people were killed, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians were killed. Residents of both countries were evacuated or fled.
Global oil markets are on high alert after strikes at facilities including the world's largest gas field, South Pars, shared by Iran and Qatar.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
