Flags flutter along a bridge as a plume of heavy smoke and fire rise from an oil refinery in southern Tehran, after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike, on June 15, 2025. (Photo by Atta Kenare / AFP)
Tehran: Israel unleashed a punishing barrage of strikes across Iran on Sunday stretching from the west to Tehran and Mashhad in the east, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to make the country pay "a very heavy price" for killing civilians.
With no let-up in sight, Iran said it would begin opening mosques, metro stations and schools to serve as makeshift bomb shelters for civilians, as Israel kept up its withering blows.
After decades of enmity, the latest conflict marked the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity.
A plume of heavy smoke and fire rise from an oil refinery in southern Tehran, after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike, on June 15, 2025. (Photo by Atta Kenare / AFP)
A fire blazes in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran, on June 15, 2025. (Photo by Atta Kenare / AFP)
As Israel targeted sites across the Islamic republic, Iran launched a barrage of missiles aimed at Israel in the afternoon, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and elsewhere.
Back in Tehran, a heavy cloud of smoke hung above the city after Israeli aircraft hit two fuel depots. Local media later reported an Israeli strike hit the police headquarters in the city centre.
The Israeli military said its air force had hit "more than 80" targets in Tehran overnight.
