Tel Aviv, June 14: Tensions in the Middle East escalated further early on Saturday as Iran launched a fresh wave of missile attacks on Israel, according to reports from Iranian state television.

The renewed offensive comes amid a period of heightened hostilities between the two nations.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack, stating that a barrage of projectiles had been launched toward Israeli territory.

In a brief statement, the military said, “Another barrage has been fired towards Israel,” though the total number of missiles and specific areas targeted were not immediately disclosed.

In central Israel, at least 10 civilians sustained injuries after an Iranian missile reportedly struck near residential areas. Emergency services responded swiftly to treat the wounded and assess the extent of the damage.

The Israeli government has placed the country on heightened alert, with residents in several regions advised to stay in protected areas.

Meanwhile, the United States military has intervened to assist Israel’s air defence systems. According to two US officials speaking on condition of anonymity, American forces successfully intercepted multiple Iranian missiles that were en route to Israel.

However, the officials did not specify the method of interception or whether it was conducted by fighter jets, missile defence systems, or naval assets.

Earlier nearly 100 missiles were launched from Iran toward central and northern Israel in two massive barrages, causing significant damage and injuring 41 people, according to the Israeli military and the national emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA).

The MDA reported two people critically injured, two moderately, four lightly-moderately, while the remaining individuals suffered light injuries or trauma-related symptoms, including panic attacks.

Following the launches, air defence sirens were activated, sending millions of residents to protected rooms and shelters for more than an hour.

IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said that most missiles were intercepted by the air defence system or did not reach their target. He noted that the injuries reported occurred inside buildings, with several caused by shrapnel from intercepted missiles.

United Nations, June 14: Even as Iran was raining missiles on Israel in retaliation for the attack on its nuclear facilities and leaders, the Security Council heard International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) top official warn that attacks on nuclear installations could have “grave consequences”.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, “Any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond.”

The IAEA General Council has declared that military attacks on nuclear facilities violate the UN Charter and international law, he said.

UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the Council Emergency session convened at the request of Iran, “We must at all costs avoid a growing conflagration which would have enormous global consequences”.

She said that Israel attacked Iran as “significant diplomatic developments” were afoot with talks between Washington and Tehran set to resume in Oman on Sunday. Iran has pulled out of the negotiations.

DiCarlo said, “A peaceful resolution through negotiations remains the best means to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme”.

A senior US State Department official, McCoy Pitt, said the US was still willing to negotiate.

“We seek a secure peace”, he said. “As President Trump said, the violence should come to an end, and Iran should make a deal so that there is ‘no more death, no more destruction’. The United States will continue to seek a diplomatic resolution that ensures Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon or pose a threat to stability in the Middle East”, he said.

“Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time”, he added.

During US President Donald Trump’s first term, he pulled out of an international agreement to stop Iran’s programme to produce materials for a nuclear bomb in return for removing some international sanctions.

However, recently he tried to work out a new agreement with Tehran, and those efforts have now been blocked by Israel’s attack on Iran.

Iran’s Permanent Representative Amir Saeid Iravani, said Israel’s attack was meant “to kill diplomacy, to sabotage negotiations, and to drag the region into wider conflict”.

He also accused Washington of being complicit in the Israeli attack.

Pitt denied that the US was involved in the attack, although it had been informed of it in advance.

Israel’s Permanent Representative Danny Danon defended his country’s action, calling it “an act of national preservation”.

He displayed a picture of a countdown clock in Tehran that was timed to its plan to annihilate Israel.

Israel’s mission was to ”neutralise the (Iranian) regime’s ability to follow through on its repeated public promise to destroy the State of Israel”, he said.

Danon said the strikes in Iran were precise and targeted the nuclear facilities.

New Delhi, June 13: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday expressed deep sorrow over the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 241 lives.

In an official statement, he extended condolences on behalf of the Government and people of Japan to the families of the deceased and wished a swift recovery for the injured.

“I am in deep sorrow by hearing the news of the loss of many precious lives in the airplane accident in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. On behalf of the Government of Japan and people, I would like to express our heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives and their bereaved families. I also pray for the speedy recovery of those who were injured,” said Ishiba

In addition, Prime Minister Ishiba issued messages of condolences to the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Canada.

In what is being described as one of the worst aviation disasters in Indian history, the aircraft, operating as Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London, Gatwick, plunged into a residential complex near BJ Medical College, killing 241 people on board.

The ill-fated flight had 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew, and two pilots. According to officials, only one person, a British national of Indian origin seated in 11A, survived the crash and is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

The passenger manifest included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

The impact triggered a massive blaze, with thick plumes of smoke visible across the city. Emergency services, including fire brigades and National Disaster Response Force teams, rushed to the site of the crash. Many people on the ground who were in the residential complex near BJ Medical College, are also feared dead.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited the Air India plane crash site. He arrived in the city to take stock of the situation, a day after the deadly plane crash.

PM Modi expressed profound grief and called the tragedy “heart-breaking beyond words.”

Earlier on Thursday, as the tragedy occurred, several world leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, expressed grief and offered condolences to the people affected by the tragic plane crash.