Iran-Israel Escalation: Houthis Join Fighting, UK Moves Assets to Middle East
On Sunday, Israel expanded its offensive by targeting Iranian oil infrastructure and Defense Ministry headquarters, while Iran launched a new barrage of strikes that penetrated air defenses in the north and center of Israel. Meanwhile, the Houthis launched coordinated strikes against Israel and the UK moved more assets to the region.
Striking Targets in Tehran
The Israeli military said it had launched an extensive series of strikes against nuclear sites in Tehran. The targets included the headquarters of the Iranian Defense Ministry and Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND) nuclear project.
It also included other targets, which 'advanced the Iranian regime's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon and where the Iranian regime hid its nuclear archive,' the Israeli military said in a statement.
The attack on the Defense Ministry headquarters caused minor damage, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Furthermore, the Israeli strikes hit the Shahran oil and gasoline depot northwest of Tehran and another reservoir south of the city, Iranian media reported citing the Oil Ministry. The strikes triggered a massive fire at the Shahran depot, a major oil and gasoline distribution center for Tehran and cities on its west, with 11 tanks.
The Israeli strikes killed 78 people on Friday, and dozens more on Saturday, with 60 killed in a missile strike on a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, including 29 children, Iran said.
Iranian Missiles Hit Israel
Late on Saturday into Sunday, Iranian missiles managed to penetrate air defenses in the north and center of Israel, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 180, reported the Guardian.
Iran launched a wave of missiles late on Saturday toward Jerusalem and Haifa. Then, a second barrage hit Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv, killing 6 people and causing 7 others to go missing, according to Israeli emergency services. Moreover, an Iranian airstrike killed at least four people in the northern city of Tamra.
The Iranian Mehr news agency reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted Israel's fighter jets fuel production facilities and energy supply lines with a massive barrage of missiles and drones.
The IRGC's spokesperson, Ali Mohammad Naeini, said that the strikes were part of Iran's response to the Israeli aggression, adding that the Iranian offensive operations will continue 'with even greater force and scale' if the Israeli aggression does not stop.
Iranian media reports said that the IRGC used Emad, Ghadr, and Kheibar Shekan missiles in its latest strike against Israel, targeting Haifa and Tel Aviv.
Houthis Join Iran-Israel Fighting
The Houthi rebel group in Yemen announced on Sunday that they hit Israel with ballistic missiles in coordination with Iran to be the first Iranian-backed group to join the attacks, reported Reuters.
In a televised speech, the group's spokesperson, Yehia Sarea, said that the Houthis launched several ballistic missiles towards Jaffa in central Israel over the past 24 hours. 'Triumphing for the oppressed Palestinian and Iranian peoples…This operation was coordinated with the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy,' he said.
Since the outbreak of Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis have been targeting Israel with missile attacks, most of which intercepted, in solidarity with Palestine. In response, Israel carried out a retaliatory campaign against the rebel group, striking their military sites in Yemen.
Pakistani Support
Following Israeli attacks on Iran, Pakistan on Saturday expressed solidarity with Iran. During a phone call with the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said that Pakistan 'stood in full solidarity' with the Iranian people and government, denouncing Israel's blatant provocations and adventurism as a grave threat to regional and global peace and stability, according to a statement released by his office.
Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan's Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, expressed full diplomatic support to Iran, calling on the Muslim world to adopt a 'unified strategy' to counter Israel. 'Just as Israel is currently targeting Yemen, Iran, and Palestine, if the Muslim world does not unite today and continues to prioritize its own interests and agendas, then everyone's turn will come,' he said during an address to the National Assembly.
UK Moves Assets to Mideast
Amid the intense fighting between Iran and Israel, the UK is moving more jets and other military assets to the Middle East to provide 'contingency support' in the region, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, told reporters on the plane to the G7 summit, according to the Guardian.
Starmer declined to say whether the UK would participate in helping Israel confront Iranian drone and missile strikes. 'These are obviously operational decisions and the situation is ongoing and developing and therefore I'm not going to get into the precise details,' he said.
The UK move came despite Iranian warnings that any involvement to support Israel could make British bases in the region a legitimate target for Iran.
US Threats
The US President, Donald Trump, has threatened Tehran of unprecedented consequences if it attacked American targets. On Saturday, following a spectacular military parade in Washington, Trump denied US involvement in Israel's latest attack on Iran, urging both sides to reach a deal to end the conflict.
'The US had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Separately, Axios reported that Israel has asked the US over the past two days to join its war against Iran and help in destroying the Fordo uranium enrichment site. However, the Trump administration has so far distanced itself from the Israeli operation.
Israel needs the US help to reach the Fordo site, located between mountains and extending deep underground. The US possesses the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft that Israel needs to destroy the site. Failure to halt Fordo operations will mean that Israel failed in achieving its goal of eliminating Iran's nuclear program.
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