DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Iran war escalated late Saturday as flames engulfed an oil storage facility in Tehran, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising “many surprises” for the next phase of the conflict.
Iranian state media confirmed the strike on the oil facility, as Associated Press video footage showed the horizon illuminated against the night sky. Israel’s military also confirmed new strikes in Tehran’s eastern and southern neighborhoods.
This was the first time a civil industrial facility was targeted in the war. State media attributed the attack to “an attack from the U.S. and the Zionist regime” at the facility supplying the capital and nearby provinces in the north.
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacks on neighboring countries, as Iran’s missiles and drones headed towards Gulf Arab states. There are conflicting statements within Iran’s leadership council since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in the opening airstrikes of the war.
Trump threatened that Iran would be “hit very hard” and more targets would be considered. The conflict has unsettled global markets and weakened Iran’s leadership with numerous Israeli and American airstrikes.
Iran’s U.N. mission suggested that strikes on non-military sites might have been due to interception by U.S. electronic defense systems. Late Saturday, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani asserted unity among leaders and requested arrangements for the Assembly of Experts to select the next supreme leader.
In Iraq, a missile landed at the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, the first reported strike in the heavily fortified Green Zone since the start of the war. U.S. allies in the Gulf expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of notice before the conflict began.
In summary, the conflict between Iran and Israel escalated with strikes on civil facilities and diplomatic challenges within Iran’s leadership council. The U.S. and Israel continue to target Iran’s military capabilities, amid shifting war goals and increasing casualties in various countries involved.
