DUBAI:Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least fivekilled and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.
Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since last Friday.
The attacks raised Israel’s total death toll to at least 18, and in response the Israeli military said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.
Israeli air defence systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.
Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.
The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel.
“We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. “And this is just one scene, we have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.”
The MDA added that paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.
UN nuclear agency warns of possible contamination inside Iran's Natanz site after Israeli strikes
The head of the UNnuclear watchdog agency said that there is a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz following Israeli strikes, although radiation levels outside the complex are presently normal.
The radiation poses a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the facilities, Grossi said.
“The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,” he said.
He said that the main concern inside the Natanz facility is the chemical toxicity of a gas called uranium hexafluoride, which is the result of fluorine mixed with the uranium during enrichment. It's extremely volatile, will quickly corrode, can burn the skin and is especially deadly if inhaled, experts say.
“Amid theses challenging and complex circumstances, it is crucial that the IAEA receives timely and regular technical information about the facilities and their respective sites,” Grossi said.
Without information, the UNagency “cannot accurately assess the radiological conditions and potential impacts on the population and the environment and cannot provide the necessary assistance.”
Grossi said that UNinspectors would remain present in Iran and inspect the nuclear facilities “as soon as safety conditions allow.”
He warned that “military escalation threatens lives, increases the chance of a radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment and delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.”
‘It’s terrifying’: Israeli citizens describe the moment the Iranian missiles hit
Guydo Tetelbaun was in his apartment in Tel Aviv when the alerts came in shortly after 4 a.m. (0100 GMT).
“As usual, we went into the (shelter) that’s right across the street there. And within minutes, the door of the (shelter) blew in,” the 31-year-old chef said.
“A couple of people came in bloody, all cut up. And then when we came to the apartment, after it quietened down, we saw there wasn’t much of it... Walls are caved in, no more glass,” he added.
“It’s terrifying because it’s so unknown. This could be the beginning of a long time like this, or it could get worse, or hopefully better, but it’s the unknown that’s the scariest.”
The pre-dawn missiles also struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular market in Tel Aviv that typically draws large crowds buying fresh fruit and vegetables. A residential street in nearby Petah Tikva and a school in ultra-Orthodox Jewish city Bnei Brak were also hit.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defense systems to target each other and allowed Tehran to successfully hit many targets, without providing further details.
The Israeli Defense Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. There were no reports in Israel of interceptor missiles hitting each other. Israeli officials have repeatedly said its defense systems are not 100 percent and have warned of tough days ahead.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement: “The arrogant dictator of Tehran has become a cowardly murderer who targets the civilian home front in Israel to deter the IDF from continuing the attack that is collapsing his capabilities.”
“The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.”
Katz later issued a separate statement saying that Israel had no intention of deliberately harming Tehran’s residents.
Iranian Parliament pens plan to leave Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Iran said Monday its parliament was preparing a bill to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), adding that Tehran remains opposed to developing weapons of mass destruction. Passing the bill could take several weeks.
Israel is presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies it. It is the only Middle East state that has not signed the NPT.
Democratic senator introduces legislation to prevent Trump from using military force against Iran without permission
A Democratic senator introduced legislation on Monday to prevent US President Donald Trump from using military force against Iran without Congress’s authorization, as an escalating battle between Israel and Iran raised fears of broader conflict.
Tim Kaine of Virginia has tried for years to wrest back Congress’s authority to declare war from the White House.
During Trump’s first term, in 2020, Kaine introduced a similar resolution to rein in Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran. That measure passed both the Senate and House of Representatives, winning some Republican support, but did not garner enough votes to survive the Republican president’s veto.
Kaine said his latest war powers resolution underscores that the US Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the sole power to declare war and requires that any hostility with Iran be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for the use of military force.
“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States. I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict,” Kaine said in a statement.
Russia remains ready to act as a mediator Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (FILE/AFP)
Russia ready to mediate on Iran, and to accept Tehran’s uranium, Kremlin says
Russia remains ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Moscow’s previous proposal to store Iranian uranium in Russia remains on the table, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly-advancing uranium enrichment programme has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon.
“This proposal remains on the table, it remains relevant. But, of course, with the outbreak of hostilities, the situation has become seriously complicated,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could help.
The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities. (FILE/AFP)
Putin and Erdogan condemn Israeli actions against Iran in phone call, Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel’s “act of force” against Iran and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday, the Kremlin said.
“Both sides expressed the most serious concern about the ongoing escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, which has already led to a large number of casualties and is fraught with serious long-term consequences for the entire region,” a Kremlin statement said.
“The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”
The two sides agreed to remain in close cooperation, the statement said.
Iran tells Qatar, Oman it won't negotiate ceasefire with US while under Israeli attack
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns of a broader regional conflict, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further strikes.
Israel warned that the worse is to come. It targeted Iran's Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran and sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear program, while Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses and slammed into buildings deep inside Israel.
An Iranian health ministry spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said the toll since the start of Israeli strikes had risen to 224 dead and more than 1,200 injured, 90 percent of whom he said were civilians. Those killed included 60 on Saturday, half of them children, in a 14-story apartment block flattened in the Iranian capital.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders in Canada on Sunday would reach an agreement to help resolve the conflict and keep it from escalating.
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire with the US while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday. The Israeli military, which launched the attacks on Friday with the stated aim of wiping out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate.
