Israeli attack on Tehran hits Iran state TV during live broadcast
TEHRAN
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building was struck in an Israeli attack on June 16, cutting live coverage immediately after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran's state television and radio were "about to disappear" following an evacuation warning for the district in Tehran where the broadcaster is based.
"The Iranian propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear," he said in a statement. "Evacuation of nearby residents has begun."
The blast occurred as the presenter was live on TV lambasting Israel before she was seen leaving the live broadcast, Iranian media reported, sharing a video of the incident.
Israeli warplanes struck densely populated residential neighborhoods in eastern Tehran on June 16 evening, shortly after the army issued evacuation orders for Iranian residents, local media said.
Iran’s Press TV reported the attacks, without giving details about targets or casualties.
The Israeli army ordered residents of Tehran’s District 3, where also government ministries and foreign embassies are located, to immediately evacuate before a new wave of airstrikes.
Iran also carried out missile attacks at Israel, killing at least eight people.
On the fourth day of the conflict, the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats. The military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.
The warning affected up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
“At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies,” said Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin. The military said it had destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total.
Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.
The Israeli strikes “amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat,” Defrin said.
An Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in Israel's coast city of Haifa on June 15, killing three people, an Israeli official said after a gag order was lifted.
The confirmation on June 16 removed reporting restrictions imposed by Israel's military censorship on the attack, part of the most intense confrontation in history between longtime foes Iran and Israel.
Iran, meanwhile, announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since June 13.
One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured.
So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured, Israeli officials said, after Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones.
