Pezeshkian warns of stronger response to Israeli strikes

Missile strikes hit areas near Iran’s Interior Ministry and several key districts of Tehran on Sunday, with blasts reported in Fatemi Square, Jannat Abad, Valiasr, Shush, and around the Aladdin Mall, according to Iranian media and eyewitness videos.

A viewer told Iran International that Jannat Abad was hit minutes earlier, while Tasnim reported an explosion near Valiasr Square.

Khabar Online said central Tehran was struck by two major projectiles, and Didban Iran confirmed damage near Jomhouri and Hafez streets.

Iran would pay a very heavy price for killing civilians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after a missile strike hit a residential building in Bat Yam early Sunday, killing six Israelis and wounding dozens more.

“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the murder of civilians — women, children — that it carried out deliberately,” Netanyahu said at the scene, according to a statement from his office.

“We will achieve our objectives, and we will strike them with overwhelming force.”

Four more people were killed in a separate strike on the northern town of Tamra. Netanyahu framed the confrontation as existential.

“Think about what would happen if Iran had a nuclear weapon to drop on Israel’s cities,” he warned. “That is why we launched a war of rescue… Our soldiers, our pilots, are above the skies of Iran.”

He expressed condolences to the victims’ families and urged the public to follow safety instructions from the Home Front Command.

“Protect your lives — and together, with God’s help, we will win,” he said.

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Iraq, warned it would strike US bases in the region if the United States intervenes in the conflict between Iran and Israel.

The group said it is closely monitoring the military movements of the Americans in the region.

Phone access for political prisoners in Tehran’s Evin prison was cut off Sunday afternoon, sources told Iran International, amid intensified Israeli airstrikes on targets inside Iran.

Both male and female inmates in various wards lost all phone contact starting at midday on Sunday.

Prison authorities have also sharply restricted outdoor time and daily routines for male political prisoners.

The measures appear to reflect broader security clampdowns as Iranian authorities brace for further attacks and public unrest.

Targets were hit in the Garmdareh area of Karaj, west of Tehran, as air defense systems opened sustained fire across the city’s hills, a citizen told Iran International.

Residents in Karaj shared videos showing continuous anti-aircraft activity, while others in Tehran captured scenes of smoke rising after explosions in Chitgar.

Gunfire from air defense systems was still audible across multiple districts of the capital on Sunday.