Israel says it killed Iran’s wartime chief as conflict enters fifth day

The Israeli ambassador to India on Tuesday said that Tel Aviv was coordinating with New Delhi to process evacuation requests from Indian citizens, ANI reported. This came against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Iran entering its fifth day. The countries have launched fresh attacks on each other.

“The diplomats and foreign citizens who want to leave, there are a few options, terrestrial and maritime, and we are coordinating that,” said Reuven Azar, the Israeli ambassador.

Over the past five days, Israeli Defense Forces have repeatedly hit targets in Tehran and several other cities, including Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.

Iran retaliated on Saturday with missile attacks across Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Haifa, and both sides have since continued to exchange air strikes and ballistic missiles.

Israel has claimed that Iran was “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, and said it had no choice but to “fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens”. Iran has for long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Here is more on this and other top updates:

Israel said it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime chief of staff and the country’s most senior military commander, NBC News reported. His predecessor was killed in Israel’s attack on Friday. An Israeli military official told Reuters on Tuesday that the country’s military had struck dozens of sites connected to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs overnight. The official claimed that Iran’s military leadership is now “on the run” and that precautions were being taken to prevent a nuclear disaster. The official also claimed that Iran has so far launched around 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, targeting both civilian and military sites.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that it had struck a centre belonging to Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, in Tel Aviv. In a statement aired on state TV, the Revolutionary Guards claimed it had targeted the “military intelligence centre of the Zionist regime’s army, Aman, and the Zionist regime’s terrorist operations planning centre, the Mossad, in Tel Aviv”, adding that the facility was “currently on fire”. There has been no confirmation from Israel regarding the alleged strike.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that he could face a similar fate to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. According to Reuters, Katz said: “Remember what happened to the dictator in the neighbouring country of Iran who took this path against Israel.” The comparison was a pointed reference to Saddam’s 2006 execution, following his conviction for crimes against humanity.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi said that 224 citizens, including women and children, have died. As many as 1,257 others have been injured in the Israeli military attacks on Iran.
United States President Donald Trump departed early from a Group of Seven summit in Canada to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict, NBC News reported. On his return to Washington, he said he was not looking for a ceasefire but “a real end” to the conflict.
As Israel continues to attack Iran, most residents have been fleeing the capital, Tehran, and heading towards the northern Caspian Sea province of Mazandaran in search of safety. Early on Tuesday, the capital city’s downtown, home to roughly 10 million people, began to empty, with many shops closed and the historic Grand Bazaar shuttered, Euro News reported. The Israeli military issued a partial evacuation order for 330,000 people in central Tehran early on Monday. However, many residents had already started to flee after the attacks on the weekend.