New nuclear leaders and scientists assassinated... Tel Aviv threatens to "burn" Tehran

Two senior Iranian generals were killed in Israeli strikes, Iranian state television reported Saturday, as Israel continues its aggression against Iran's military and nuclear capabilities.

Iranian television reported: "The martyrdom of Major General Gholamreza Mahraby, head of intelligence in the Iranian General Staff, and Major General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy chief of operations in the General Staff."

Katz threatens Tehran

Iranian state television announced the deaths of three additional nuclear scientists in Israeli attacks, bringing the total number of scientists killed in strikes since Friday to nine.

"Three of the country's nuclear scientists, Ali Baghaei Karimi, Mansour Asghari, and Saeed Borji, were martyred in the Zionist entity's terrorist attacks," state television reported, while Iranian media had previously reported that six scientists were killed in the Israeli strikes.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz vowed that "Tehran will burn" if Iran launches new missiles at Tel Aviv, after the Islamic Republic responded to Israeli strikes overnight with ballistic missiles.

Katz added, "The Iranian dictator is turning Iranian citizens into hostages, creating a reality that will force them, especially the residents of Tehran, to pay a heavy price for the criminal harm inflicted on Israeli civilians."

Katz warned that "if (Iranian Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn."

Iranian news agencies Fars and Mehr reported that new Israeli strikes today targeted the city of Tabriz and areas in the provinces of Lorestan, Hamadan, and Kermanshah in western and northwestern Iran.

The Israeli army said in a statement that its air forces "continue to strike dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran."

He added that his air force struck "dozens of targets, including surface-to-air missile infrastructure, overnight as part of efforts to damage the Iranian regime's air defense capabilities in the Tehran area."

Marches in the Galilee

The Israeli military also announced on Saturday that it had intercepted two drones in the Upper Galilee region near the southern Lebanese border, while Iranian media reported that air defenses had shot down "Israeli spy planes that had penetrated the country's airspace."

The Israeli military said in a statement on Twitter: "The air force intercepted two drones," adding: "In continuation of the alerts that were activated between 08:58 and 09:01 (GMT+3) in the Upper Galilee region, the air force intercepted two drones launched towards the country's territory."

The Israeli military stated that warnings were activated regarding the launch of rockets and shells "due to fears of falling shrapnel resulting from the interception operation." Shortly before, sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee region and Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.

In this context, the Israeli army said in a statement on Twitter: "Following the alerts activated in the Judea and Dead Sea regions (southeast of the occupied West Bank), air force forces intercepted a number of drones launched toward the country."

Iran shoots down Israeli drones

For its part, the semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian military Arash suicide drones "managed, minutes ago, to hit specific targets deep within the occupied territories and completely destroy them."

She stated that this comes "within the framework of the operation carried out by the Iranian army in response to the Zionist entity's aggression."

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported that Iranian air defenses shot down "Israeli spy planes that had violated the country's airspace" at dawn on Saturday.

She said that Iranian television reported that the Israeli drones were intended to carry out espionage and surveillance operations and were "shot down."

The Iranian Police Information Center also announced, early Saturday morning, that border guards destroyed five drones in the northwest of the country, including one in Urmia, three in Ardabil, and one in Marivan, according to the IRNA news agency.

Since dawn on Friday, Israel, with tacit US support, launched a massive attack on Iran with dozens of fighter jets, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion." During the attack, Israel bombed nuclear facilities and missile bases in various areas, assassinating prominent military leaders and nuclear scientists. That evening, Iran began responding to the attack with a series of ballistic missile and drone strikes. On Saturday morning, the Israeli ambulance service announced that the Iranian attacks had resulted in "three deaths and 172 injuries, including serious and 16 moderate injuries."

Source: Al Arabiya TV