Iran on Thursday threatened “crushing” attacks on the US and Israel, firing missiles at Tel Aviv after US President Donald Trump vowed to bomb the Islamic republic “back to the Stone Ages”.
The war, which erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread throughout the Middle East and roiled the global economy, impacting hundreds of millions worldwide.
In a prime-time White House address, Trump said the US was “very close” to achieving its objectives but warned attacks would intensify if Iran did not reach a negotiated settlement.
“Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” said Trump in a 19-minute speech delivered in front of American flags.
Iran’s response was immediate, with Israeli air defences pressed into action and police responding to “several” impact sites, as four people were reportedly lightly injured in the Tel Aviv area.
The Iranian military command centre Khatam Al-Anbiya put out a statement carried on state TV warning the US and Israel to expect “more crushing, broader, and more destructive actions”.
“With trust in Almighty God, this war will continue until your humiliation, disgrace, permanent and certain regret, and surrender,” said the statement.
The latest attacks came as Jewish Israelis were celebrating Passover, which some were forced to do underground.
“This is not my first choice,” said a writer who gave his name as Jeffrey, at a meal organised in a bunker in Tel Aviv.
“But at least in the shelter, we can sit here and just ride it out,” he added.
Trump has recently raised the possibility of a deal to end the war, which has pushed up fuel prices in the US and around the world, and pushed down his approval ratings.
He said talks could be possible with Iran’s new leadership, which he described as “less radical and much more reasonable” than their predecessors.
But Tehran has dismissed Washington’s ceasefire overtures, describing US demands to end the conflict as “maximalist and irrational”.
“Messages have been received through intermediaries, including Pakistan, but there is no direct negotiation with the US,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, quoted by the ISNA news agency on Thursday.
Pakistan on Thursday expressed optimism about ongoing efforts for US-Iran negotiations, despite rhetoric from any side, while highlighting the strong commonalities and widespread appreciation received by the five-point peace plan announced in Beijing and the seven-point summary of the quadrilateral talks held in Islamabad.
“It is an effort towards ending war. It is an effort towards cessation of hostility. And it is an effort towards paving the way for a sustainable pathway towards finding the lasting settlement of these ongoing hostilities,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at his weekly press briefing here.
He said that Pakistan had satisfaction over the confidence shown by the US and Iran in Pakistan to facilitate the talks. Pakistan had condemned the attacks carried out against the Gulf countries by Iran, and prior to that, the attack on Iran as well.
However, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that it attacked and destroyed an Amazon cloud computing centre in Bahrain in response to further aggression by the United States and Israel.
In a statement, the IRGC said it had warned of attacks against tech companies in the region if aggression against Iran did not stop.
“It appears the ears of the delusional rulers in the White House are deaf and they did not hear this warning. We have therefore fulfilled our true promise.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel Thursday, with the Israeli military’s Home Front Command saying air raid sirens were activated.