Deadly Iran protests continue as Trump renews intervention threat

By JON GAMBRELL AP The death toll in violence surrounding protests in Iran has risen to at least 35 people, activists said Tuesday, as the demonstrations showed no signs of stopping. The figure came from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which said more than 1,200 people have been detained in the protests, which have been ongoing for more than a week. It said 29 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces, The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest. A wave of protests sparked by Iran’s failing economy has continued for a ninth day, as President Donald Trump renewed his threat of US intervention. Trump warned on Sunday night that Iranian authorities would be “hit very hard” if more protesters died. “We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they ...

Israel and Iran continue to trade attacks as conflict widens

Iran launched a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least three killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for the surprise attack on its nuclear program and military leadership that Israel began last Friday.

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 near Tel Aviv said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, blowing out windows and heavily damaging multiple apartments.

The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and one man — all in their 70s — were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel. That brought the total death toll in Israel to at least 17 since Iran began launching missiles at the country in response to Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure last Friday.

The MDA added that paramedics had evacuated another 74 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.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if Israeli strikes on Iran stop, “our responses will also stop.” But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be “more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones.”

The day before Israel’s military struck dozens of sites across Iran, expanding its targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings.

Iran on Sunday said Israel had killed the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence chief and pummeled population centers in intensive aerial attacks that raised the death toll from Israel’s campaign to 224 people since Friday.

Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians. Rights groups putting together their own casualty reports in the country have suggested that the Iranian government’s death toll is a significant undercount.

SOURCE: AP AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/kTehrsK

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