Israeli security forces and first responders gather at the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighbourhood in the Ramat Aviv area in Tel Aviv on June 22, 2025. (AFP Photo)

Iran fired at least 40 missiles at Israeli targets Sunday morning in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, marking a dramatic escalation in Middle East tensions as casualties mounted on both sides.

Missile barrage hits multiple Israeli cities

The barrage, dubbed “True Promise 3” by Iranian forces, struck at least 10 locations across Israel, including the heavily populated areas of Haifa and Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media reports.

Iran said the operation targeted Ben Gurion Airport, biological research centers, and Israeli command facilities.

Israeli emergency services reported at least 23 casualties, mostly minor injuries, with one person in moderate condition.

The strikes caused heavy structural damage in Haifa and destroyed numerous buildings along Israel’s coastal region, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

For the first time, Iran deployed its third-generation Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile system, which has a range of 1,450 kilometers (900.9 miles) and travels at speeds of 5,000 kilometers per hour, Iranian state television reported. The missiles featured multiple warheads designed for more precise and devastating strikes.

US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities prompt retaliation

The Iranian assault came hours after President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had completed “very successful” airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.

American media reports indicated Trump had already approved military action against Iran following Israel’s assassination of several high-ranking Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists last week.

The Pentagon had reportedly moved B-2 bombers from Missouri toward the Persian Gulf ahead of the U.S. strikes, signaling the planned escalation.

Fire and smoke rise from a building, reportedly hit by a missile fired from Iran, in central Tel Aviv on June 13, 2025. (AFP Photo)

Israel responds with counter-strikes on Iranian targets

Israel responded immediately with its own strikes on Iranian military targets in western Iran, hitting missile launchers and Iranian personnel allegedly preparing additional attacks, according to Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

Air raid sirens wailed across northern and central Israel during Sunday’s attack, including in Haifa, which had not experienced alerts during previous Iranian strikes. Israeli Channel 12 described “an unusual event” in Haifa, accompanied by multiple explosions.

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 Photo)

Casualties mount as conflict escalates since June

The current hostilities began on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran’s retaliatory campaign.

Israeli authorities report at least 25 deaths and hundreds of injuries from Iranian missile attacks since fighting began.

Iranian casualties have been far higher, with the country’s Health Ministry reporting 430 killed and more than 3,500 wounded in Israeli strikes.

Iran called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to condemn what it termed U.S. aggression and demanded accountability for violations of international law.

The escalation represents the most serious direct military confrontation between Iran, Israel, and the United States in the region, raising concerns about a broader regional conflict.

Air raid sirens heard across Israel after Iran launches two volleys of missiles in rapid succession, targeting key sites.

Iran and Israel have exchanged a barrage of missiles after the United States bombed key Iranian nuclear sites, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Iran on Sunday launched two volleys of 27 missiles, targeting Israel’s main Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, research facilities, and command centres, an Iranian state news agency reported.

Air raid sirens were sounded across most of Israel, sending millions of people to safe rooms and bomb shelters as explosions and missile interceptions were seen above the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the port city of Haifa, and other parts of the country.

At least 20 people were wounded, according to Israeli emergency workers.

“This is certainly the first time that we have seen two volleys coming in such close succession. Usually, there are hours between each volley of missiles. This time, it was less than half an hour,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan.

The targeted areas spanned the occupied Golan Heights in Syria to the Upper Galilee to northern and central Israel, affecting 10 separate sites either directly by missiles or by large shrapnel, Odeh said.

“There is extensive damage in those sites, especially in the Tel Aviv area and Haifa,” Odeh said.

Videos from Tel Aviv and Haifa towards the north showed rescue teams combing through debris, apartments reduced to rubble, mangled cars along a street filled with debris, and medics evacuating injured people from a row of blown-out houses.

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In a statement, the Israeli army said it was investigating why no air raid warnings were sounded in Haifa.

Israel also carried out another wave of bombings on “military targets” in western Iran. The Israeli military earlier said its strikes destroyed Iranian missile launchers and targeted soldiers.

The latest exchange of missiles between the Middle Eastern enemies followed the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, with President Donald Trump saying the attacks had “obliterated” the three facilities.

Trump said Iran’s future held “either peace or tragedy” and that there were many other Iranian targets that could be hit. “If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill,” he said.

Iran responded by saying it “reserved all options” to defend itself and warned of “everlasting consequences” if the US joined the war.

In a statement, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US attacks on its nuclear facilities as a “gross and unprecedented violation” of international law.

“The world must not forget that it was the United States that, in the midst of a diplomatic process, betrayed diplomacy” by supporting Israel’s “aggressive action”, and is now waging “a dangerous war against Iran,” the ministry said.

It has become clear that the US “adheres to no rules or ethics, and in order to advance the aims of a genocidal and occupying regime, spares no lawlessness or crime”, it added.

Meanwhile, Israel said it will temporarily reopen its airspace for flights from 11:00 GMT on Sunday as it repatriates thousands of citizens left stranded overseas by its war with Iran, the country’s airport authority said.

Ben Gurion Airport “will open for landings from 02:00pm-8:00pm as part of Operation Safe Return”, the authority said in a statement, referring to the government’s efforts to bring home citizens.

Most airlines continue to avoid large parts of the Middle East after the US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, according to the flight tracking website, FlightRadar24.

TEHRAN — Tensions in the Middle East surged to a new level early Sunday as Iran launched a large-scale missile attack on multiple locations across Israel, in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on its nuclear facilities just hours earlier.

According to Israel Hayom, Iran fired at least 40 missiles targeting cities including Haifa and Tel Aviv in a coordinated barrage that marked one of the most intense escalations since hostilities began on June 13.

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN said missiles landed in at least 10 locations across the country’s central and coastal regions.

Israeli Channel 14 confirmed five direct hits — three in Haifa and two in central Israel — while Channel 12 reported “an unusual event” with multiple explosions in Haifa.

Air raid sirens were activated across northern and central Israel, including areas that had not previously experienced incoming fire.

Local media, including Yedioth Ahronoth, reported heavy structural damage in Haifa, with further destruction across the Shephelah region and the Dan Bloc, which includes Tel Aviv and its suburbs.

A building in Greater Tel Aviv was struck directly, and numerous structures along the coast were damaged.

Emergency service Magen David Adom said its teams responded to multiple impact sites. Initially reporting 11 injuries, the figure later rose to 16 according to Channel 13, with Yedioth Ahronoth confirming at least 23 casualties, most of them minor. One person remains in moderate condition.

A spokesperson for Iran’s military operation, codenamed Al-Waad Al-Sadiq 3 (True Promise 3), said the attacks targeted Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli command centers, and biological research facilities.

In response, the Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory airstrikes on Iranian positions in western Iran. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Israeli forces targeted missile launchers and personnel involved in preparing further attacks. Additional launch platforms were hit shortly afterward.

The escalation follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s confirmation earlier Sunday that American forces carried out airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear sites — Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan — using B-2 stealth bombers and the powerful GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs.

Trump described the operation as “very successful” and said all aircraft safely exited Iranian airspace. The Pentagon had reportedly repositioned B-2 bombers to the Persian Gulf in preparation for the strikes, following Israel’s earlier assassinations of high-ranking Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists.

Iran has called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to condemn the U.S. strikes and hold Washington accountable for what it termed a violation of international law.

Since June 13, Iranian missile strikes have killed at least 25 people and injured hundreds in Israel, according to Israeli officials.

In Iran, the Health Ministry reports 430 people killed and more than 3,500 wounded from Israeli attacks on military and civilian infrastructure.

The ongoing escalation raises fears of a wider regional war, as diplomatic channels falter and military operations intensify on multiple fronts. — Agencies

Over Friday and Saturday, the traffic back into Tehran was heavy. People who had evacuated were returning to the city after what had felt like two days of relative calm that they hoped would stretch into more. Some government offices were meant to open today.

Instead, that sense of calm was proven false by the U.S. strikes last night.

Downtown Tehran yesterday. Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Now there’s heightened security entering Tehran: multiple checkpoints along the roads, and cars are being thoroughly searched to identify any potential internal threats. The people who are returning are not doing it because it feels safe, but because they have to.

Inside Tehran, most places are still closed. Only essential medical services are running maybe a few drugstores for urgent needs. Government jobs are on hold, some private companies are working remotely, and factories are opening if their workers are willing to return. Many are scared for their lives, and the city remains mostly empty and eerie, more empty even than during the pandemic.

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Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at Israel just hours after the United States attacked three sites in Iran , aiming to destroy the country’s nuclear program.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a barrage of 40 missiles at Israel, including its Khorramshahr-4, which can carry multiple warheads.

Israeli authorities reported that more than 80 people suffered mostly minor injuries, and that there were reports of damage in the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, and along the coast.

Israeli police and search and rescue teams deploy to the Tel Aviv area begin investigation and search operations. Credit: ‘ISRAELI POLICE / HANDOUT (Anadolu via Getty Images)

Following the Iranian barrage, Israel’s military said it had “swiftly neutralised” the Iranian missile launchers that had fired, and that it had begun a series of strikes toward military targets in western Iran.

The scene after one of the missiles launched by Iran in retaliation for Israeli attacks struck the centre of Tel Aviv. Credit: ‘ISRAELI POLICE / HANDOUT (Anadolu via Getty Images)

Iran says it fired one of its biggest ballistic missiles targeting Israel after US strikes

Iranian state TV showed what appeared to be previous test-firing footage of the Khorramshahr-4 missile, with an on-screen caption saying it was used in a barrage on Israel.

It says it launched 40 missiles, including the Khorramshahr-4 missile.

Rescue workers and firefighters survey the site of a direct missile strike launched from Iran in Tel Aviv. (AP)

The Khorramshahr-4 has the heaviest payload of Iran’s ballistic missile fleet, which analysts say may be designed to keep the weapon under a 2000-kilometre range limit imposed by the country’s supreme leader.

Iranian says the missile has a 2000-kilometre range with a 1500-kilogram warhead.

The missile is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

The missile also is called Kheibar, after a Jewish fortress conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century — in what is now Saudi Arabia.

Emergency workers respond to a site after a reported Iranian missile strike. (Getty)

Israel says it took out two of Iran’s F-5 fighter jets

Israel says it hit the aircraft at Iran’s Dezful airport. The F-5s are part of Iran’s aging fleet of fighter jets from the era of the shah. Israel released black-and-white footage showing one of the aircrafts being destroyed.

Israel previously hit F-14 Tomcats flown by the Iranian military in the war. However, it isn’t clear if these aircraft were airworthy as many have been grounded over the years due to a lack of parts.