On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel “controls the sky of Tehran” as part of their bombing campaign unleashed on Friday. He reiterated that the Israeli forces’ objective is to destroy Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic programs.
According to Netanyahu, this supposed aerial control over Tehran "represents a change in the entire campaign“. He has highlighted that Israel is “on track” to achieve its objectives, according to The Times of Israel.
On his social media account on platform X, Netanyahu argued that Israeli forces “attack regime targets, not civilians,” despite the accusations from Iranian authorities about the deaths of numerous civilians due to these attacks.
According to the balance published by a spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Health, at least 224 people have died and 1,257 have been injured as a result of Israeli bombings.
Israel bombs Iranian state television
According to the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr, an attack was reported on Monday afternoon against the headquarters of the Iranian public television in Tehran, IRIB.
This attack comes after Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, directly pointed to Iranian “propaganda”. “Iran’s propaganda and seditious loudspeaker is about to disappear”, Katz pointed out on social media. “The evacuation of nearby residents has begun,” he added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had specifically urged the evacuation of Tehran’s District 3, where the headquarters of Iranian public television is located.
The IDF also attacked other points in the Iranian capital on Monday.
Iranian anti-aircraft defenses were activated after attacks were reported in the west of the capital, specifically in the mountainous areas of Bagheri and Chitgar, as reported by the state news agency ISNA.
Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces reported that two other senior Iranian military officials died as a result of the bombings against the Intelligence headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran. They are Mohsen Bakri, head of the Intelligence Department of the Quds Force, and his deputy, Abu al Fald Nikuei. The Quds Force specializes in military intelligence operations.
Benjamin Netanyahu had already reported the death of two other senior Iranian officials the day before: the head of the Intelligence section of the Revolutionary Guard, Mohamad Kazemi, and his deputy, Hasan Mohaqeq.
Victims in Israel
Israeli authorities have raised the death toll to 24 and the number of injured to 592, including ten in serious condition, from Iran’s missile attacks. They also added that so far, 30 locations have been identified where the projectiles have struck.
In addition, they reported that Tehran launched 370 ballistic missiles, as well as “hundreds” of unmanned aerial vehicles.