Iran’s president described the United States’s demand for an unconditional surrender as a “dream that they should to take to their grave”.
Masoud Pezeshkian made the statement in a pre-recorded address aired by Iranian state television on Saturday morning. It came after Tehran’s Mehrabad airport was hit by explosions, with video footage showing a burning plane and plumes of smoke rising into the sky.
The Mehrabad airport is Iran’s busiest commercial airport and main domestic hub. It also serves the Iranian air force.
The attack followed Donald Trump – who was reported to express serious interest in deploying a limited US force on the ground – saying the US military was doing “phenomenally” against Iran as he demanded Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, warned on Friday: “Tonight will be our biggest bombing campaign. We’ll do the most damage to the Iranian missile launchers, the factories that build the missiles, and we are substantially degrading them.”
What to know about the growing conflict in the Middle East
- More than 1,300 people have been killed since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran late last month, according to Iranian authorities.
- US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and says he wants to be involved with the selection of the country’s new leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes.
- US military officials say it was likely that America was responsible for an attack on an Iranian girls’ school, which killed about 150 people.
Gulf states intercept more missiles
Gulf countries say they have intercepted more ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday as Iran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes.
Saudi Arabia said early Saturday it stopped four drones attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field, the second attack within hours.
In Dubai, people heard several blasts in the morning, with Emirati authorities saying there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception.”
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Beirut and Tehran.
The death toll continued to rise on Saturday with at least 1,230 people killed in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials. Six US troops were reported killed.
Israeli Air Force says it has ‘launched a wave of strikes’ on Iran
In a post on X at 8.21am UK time today, it wrote: “The Air Force has launched a wave of strikes targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran and Isfahan.”
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‘Biggest bombing campaign’ still to come, US says
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the “biggest bombing campaign” of the war was still to come.
Israel has said that over the past week it has heavily bombed an extensive underground bunker that Iranian leaders had planned to use during the hostilities.
New information has surfaced suggesting that a deadly explosion at a school in the Iranian city of Minab, some 680 miles southeast of Tehran, was likely caused by US air strikes. The information included satellite images, expert analysis, a US official and public information released by US and Israeli military forces, the Associated Press reports.
Iranian state media has said more than 165 people were killed in the blast, most of them of children.
Iran has blamed Israel and the US for the explosion. Neither country has accepted responsibility, though defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said the US is investigating.
The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed late Friday in the mountains of eastern Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least three people were killed.
Israel has carried out waves of air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a large presence but which is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 217 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday and 798 others were injured.
Emirates resumes flight operations
The airline said on X: “Emirates will resume operations. Passengers who have confirmed bookings for this afternoon’s flights may proceed to the airport.
“This includes customers transiting in Dubai, if their connecting flight is also operating.”
Earlier this morning it had announced it was suspended all flights to and from Dubai, but these will now resume.
US demands for unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should to take to their grave”, Iran says
Iran’s president has said that a demand by the United States for an unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should to take to their grave”.
President Masoud Pezeshkian made the statement in a pre-recorded address aired by Iranian state television.
He also apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, insisting that Tehran would halt them and suggesting they were caused by miscommunication in the ranks.
The comments came as intense Iranian fire targeted the Gulf Arab states on Saturday morning as Israel and the United States kept up their air strikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
There were repeated attacks on Saturday morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In Dubai, several blasts were heard on Saturday morning and the government said it had activated air defences.
Passengers waiting for flights out at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, found themselves ushered down into train tunnels at the sprawling airfield after the alert sounded.
Later that morning, long-haul carrier Emirates resumed operations, after briefly suspending all flights to and from Dubai.
Iran to suspend strikes on neighbours unless attacks come from them
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that its temporary leadership council had approved the suspension of attacks against neighbouring countries unless an attack on Iran came from those countries, Reuters reports.
The announcement came as Iran continued to launch attacks in the region in response to US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Explosions rock Iran’s capital on Saturday and Tehran retaliates
Explosions sent up clouds of dark smoke in the Iranian capital city early on Saturday and Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at Israel,
The latest bombardments come as the United States warned of a bombing campaign that officials said would be the most intense yet in the week-long conflict.
Donald Trump’s administration also approved a new £112 million arms sale to Israel after the US president said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender”.
Iran’s UN ambassador said the country would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself as Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on X more than 80 fighter jets had targeted Tehran and central Iran.
The IDF said targets included ballistic missile storage facilities and Imam Hossein military university, which it said was used for training by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
Associated Press video showed explosions flashing and smoke rising over western Tehran as Israel said it had begun a broad wave of strikes.
Also early on Saturday, the Israeli military said it was moving to intercept a new salvo of missiles launched from Iran.
In a sign of the widening nature of the conflict, sirens sounded early on Saturday in Bahrain as an Iranian attack targeted the island kingdom.
Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones headed toward its vast Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts US forces.
The US and Israel have battered Iran with strikes, targeting its military capabilities, leadership and nuclear programme.
The stated goals and timelines for the war have repeatedly shifted, as the US has at times suggested it seeks to topple Iran’s government or elevate new leadership from within.
Meanwhile, Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike the US military, according to two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call on Friday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing his condolences over the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Kremlin said.
In other developments, evidence emerged suggesting that an explosion which killed scores of Iranian students at a school was likely caused by US airstrikes that also hit an adjacent compound associated with the regime’s Revolutionary Guard.
Qatar’s energy minister Saad al-Kaabi warned in an interview with the Financial Times that the war could “bring down the economies of the world,” predicting a widespread shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could send oil to £111 a barrel.
The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude rose above $90 (£67) on Friday for the first time in more than two years.
Emirates says all flights to and from Dubai have been suspended
The airline said on X: “All flights to and from Dubai have been suspended until further notice.
“Please do not go to the airport.
“Emirates will share updates when available. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and will not be compromised.”
Source: independent.co.uk