‘Hell’ storm lashes Iran after Trump’s warning

KEY TARGETS | 34 killed as residential areas struck in multiple cities; petrochem plant in South Pars, varsity in Tehran bombed

Agencies Dubai

At least 34 people, including six children, were killed on Monday as the US and Israel carried out massive attacks across Iran, targeting a key gas field and a top university as well as residential areas. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours.

The attacks follow Trump’s expletive-laden threat, dem­an­d­ing that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face “hell”.

The Fars news agency said an air attack killed 23 people, including the kids, in Tehran province’s Baharestan County. At least five people were killed in Qom city, while six others were killed in Bandar-e Lengeh in southern Iran, authorities said. At least a dozen cities -- including Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Shiraz, Isfahan and Karaj -- were hit.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said an attack hit the petrochemical facility in South Pars. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military “carried out a powerful strike on the largest petrochemical facility in Iran, located in Asaluyeh, a central target responsible for about 50% of the country’s petrochemical production”.

IAEA confirmed recent strikes struck close to Bushehr nuclear power plant, with one hitting just 75m from the facility's perimetre. The plant was not damaged, it added.

US-Israeli strikes also hit Sharif University in Tehran, one of Iran’s leading scientific universities. “The bunker-buster bomb attack on Sharif University is a symbol of Trump’s madness and ignorance,” Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice president, posted on X.

Iran’s Ministry of Science and Technology told Al Jazeera at least 30 universities have been hit” since the beginning of the war. In retaliatory attack, Irani­an missiles hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, where four people were found dead in the rubble of a residential building.

Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia all activated their air defences to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones, as Tehran kept up the pressure on its Gulf neighbours.