Israel says it has struck multiple “security headquarters” across Tehran as its air campaign in Iran intensifies, widening a conflict that has already claimed heavy civilian casualties.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), at least 1,097 civilians have been killed in Iran since the joint US-Israeli attacks began on Saturday. The figure, which could not be independently verified, spots the growing humanitarian cost of the confrontation.
The Israeli military has also continued operations in Lebanon, issuing renewed evacuation warnings to residents of southern Beirut amid strikes it says are targeting Hezbollah-linked positions.
The conflict further escalated on Wednesday when an Iranian drone struck the US consulate in Dubai. Footage captured on mobile phones showed flames rising from the diplomatic compound, intensifying fears that the violence is spreading beyond the immediate theatre of war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack, declaring that “our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terrorist regime,” signalling Washington’s readiness to respond.
Meanwhile, regional tensions are rising sharply. A spokesman for Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari, said at a press briefing that “all the red lines have already been crossed.”
“The attacks on our sovereignty are constant,” he told journalists. “There are attacks on infrastructure. There are attacks on our residential areas. And the effects of these attacks are very clear.”
Al-Ansari warned that while Qatar’s leadership would determine the course of any retaliation, “attacks like these will not go unanswered and cannot go unanswered.”
With civilian casualties mounting, diplomatic missions under fire and regional powers issuing stark warnings, the crisis now threatens to spiral into a broader Middle East confrontation.
