Israel launched a new wave of air strikes on Iran overnight, pounding major cities including the capital Tehran, as the conflict entered its seventh day on Friday.
Residents in Tehran described it as “the worst night” since the fighting began, as Iranian forces retaliated with strikes targeting Israel and several Gulf locations.
Thick plumes of smoke were seen rising over parts of Tehran after heavy bombardment, according to reports by CNN.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said there would be no agreement with Iran unless it accepted “unconditional surrender”.
In a Truth Social post, he added that the United States and its allies would work to “bring Iran back from the brink of destruction” by installing what he called “acceptable” leadership.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier that some countries had begun mediation efforts.
In a post on X, he wrote that “some countries have begun mediation efforts”, but did not identify which nations were involved or provide further details.
The conflict has caused mounting casualties in the region.
Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 1,332 people have been killed since the US-Israel attacks began, while more than 2,000 injured people are receiving treatment in hospitals across the country.
Officials said more than 625 surgical procedures had been carried out so far.
Israel has also continued air strikes in Lebanon, including attacks on the capital Beirut.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks across the country since Monday have killed at least 217 people and wounded 798 others.
Israeli attacks intensify, Iran retaliates
The Israeli military said about 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck an underground bunker beneath the leadership compound of Iran’s late Supreme Leader in central Tehran on Friday, according to Reuters.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the facility had served as an emergency command centre for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and was still being used by senior Iranian officials after his death.
It said the strike followed a lengthy intelligence-gathering operation.
Iran’s armed forces said they carried out a drone attack targeting US military bases in Kuwait.
Several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, also reported intercepting Iranian missiles and drones.
The UAE’s defence ministry said it intercepted nine ballistic missiles and 109 drones on Friday, with three additional drones falling inside Emirati territory.
In a statement, Bahrain said it had destroyed 78 missiles and 143 drones targeting Bahraini territory in what it described as “treacherous” attacks by Iran.
Authorities in Qatar raised the country’s security alert level and urged residents to remain indoors.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its “new-generation missiles” struck Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday.
According to Al Jazeera, Iranian forces said missile attacks also targeted Israeli locations including Ben Gurion Airport, Haifa and Tel Aviv, as well as US bases in several Gulf countries.
The conflict has also intensified along Israel’s northern border.
Israel said its forces had struck more than 500 targets across Lebanon since Monday and issued evacuation warnings for large parts of southern Lebanon and areas of Beirut.
The Israeli military said it carried out 26 waves of overnight strikes targeting Hezbollah command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Five Israeli soldiers from the Givati Brigade were seriously injured when an anti-tank missile was fired near the Lebanese border, the military said.
Three other soldiers from the same brigade suffered light injuries and were taken to hospital.
Iran also launched missile strikes against Kurdish armed opposition groups in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Al Jazeera reported that a site belonging to the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party was targeted by missile and drone strikes.
Iran’s state broadcaster Press TV reported that a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz caught fire after being hit by a drone.
The widening conflict has also disrupted international travel.
Global air travel remains heavily affected after the war forced the closure of key Middle Eastern aviation hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and disrupting thousands of flights worldwide.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that the Department of State is “moving thousands of people out of various Countries throughout the Middle East”.
“It is being done quietly, but seamlessly,” the president said, praising Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “doing a great job!”
According to Al Jazeera, the State Department said yesterday that 20,000 Americans had returned home and that it was ramping up chartered flights, without providing more details.
UN urges warring sides to ‘give peace a chance’
The United Nations human rights chief has urged all sides in the Middle East conflict to step back from further escalation and “give peace a chance”, warning that the region risks deeper devastation if fighting continues.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the world urgently needed to see efforts to contain the violence rather than further military escalation.
“The world urgently needs to see steps to contain and extinguish this blaze,” Turk told reporters.
“But instead we are only seeing more inflammatory, bellicose rhetoric, more bombings, more destruction, killings and escalation, which only fuels it further.”
He called on the countries involved in the conflict to take immediate steps to reduce tensions.
“I urge the states involved to take immediate steps to de-escalate, to give peace a chance,” he said.
He also called on other countries to press those involved in the conflict to step back.
“Cool heads must prevail if we are to prevent further terror and devastation for civilians,” he added.
UN calls for swift probe into Iran school attack
Turk also urged the United States to quickly carry out an investigation into an attack on an Iranian girls’ primary school that reportedly killed 175 people.
“What we have asked for is prompt, transparent and impartial investigations, which we understand have been announced by the United States,” he told reporters in Geneva.
He stressed that the inquiry should move forward quickly and ensure accountability.
“We need this to happen very quickly, and we need to make sure there is accountability as well as redress for the victims,” he said.
Meanwhile, two US officials told Reuters that military investigators believe it is possible US forces were responsible for the strike that hit the school last Saturday.
The officials said the investigation was still ongoing and no final conclusion had been reached.
German chancellor warns against prolonged war
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that a prolonged conflict could undermine regional stability and pose risks for Europe.
He said an extended war could threaten the security of Israel and its partners in the region.
Merz also warned that continued fighting could endanger Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He added that instability in Iran could affect Europe’s energy security and trigger uncontrolled waves of migration.
