Iran air defenses not eliminated, military adviser says

Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom evacuated a further 198 staff from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday.

Rosatom has been withdrawing personnel from the plant since the Iran war began at the end of February.

Developments around the plant are unfolding in line with the worst-case scenario, TASS cited Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev as saying, and added that Rosatom has informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation around the plant.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had struck a truck used as a mobile ballistic missile launcher in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, on Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces released footage showing the strike, and said it destroyed the launcher and thwarted plans to fire missiles toward Israel.

The IDF said the Israeli Air Force was continuing attacks on Iran’s missile launch infrastructure.

The UAE’s air defenses engaged 23 ballistic missiles and 56 drones launched from Iran on Saturday, the defense ministry said.

It said that since the start of Iran’s attacks, its forces had engaged 498 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles and 2,141 drones.

The ministry said two members of the armed forces and a Moroccan civilian contractor had been killed so far, along with 10 foreign nationals, who were Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Palestinian and Indian, and Egyptian.

A total of 217 people were also injured, with cases ranging from minor to severe, it said.

The injured included nationals of the UAE, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Uganda, Eritrea, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Comoros, Turkey, Iraq, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Jordan, Palestine, Ghana, Indonesia, Sweden, Tunisia, Morocco, and Russia, according to the statement.

The ministry said it remained ready to confront any threats to the country’s security and sovereignty.

Israel’s military said on Saturday that it carried out a new wave of strikes targeting command centers linked to Iran’s Gurads Quds Force in Beirut.

The IDF said it struck a facility used by the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps, which it described as coordinating between Hezbollah and Iran, and also hit two headquarters used by senior officials of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Israeli Navy also targeted a Hezbollah observation post, the military added.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck a day earlier command centers in Beirut belonging to the Quds Force’s Lebanon corps, which serves as a link between Iran and Hezbollah.

The Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps “serves as a liaison between Hezbollah and the Iranian terror regime and supports Hezbollah’s force buildup and military entrenchment,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF also said it struck two Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters, used for coordination with Hezbollah, and a Hezbollah observation post.