US vows 'most intense day' of Iran strikes as war damage mounts
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at the "Shield of the Americas" Summit in Miami, Florida, on Mar. 7. Reuters-Yonhap
Reports of widespread destruction across Iran emerged on Tuesday as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the day would bring the "most intense" strikes against the Islamic Republic since the war began.
"We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated," Hegseth said.
"Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever," he said.
He noted that the last 24 hours had "seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet."
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, the country's highest-ranking military officer, said U.S. forces are also "making substantial progress toward destroying the [Iranian] navy."
He said that more than 50 ships had been destroyed, and that the focus was now on minelaying vessels and weapons depots.
Iran reported heavy airstrikes on multiple targets across the country on Tuesday. According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, 40 people were killed in eastern parts of Tehran alone.
State media reported strikes on residential areas in northern, western and eastern Tehran as well as in the suburb of Mehrshahr.
Other targets reportedly included the Haghani port area in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran and a police station in Isfahan in central Iran.
Iran has been battered by U.S.-Israeli attacks since February 28 and has responded by targeting U.S. bases across the region as well as civilian sites, embroiling the Middle East in an escalating war.
Airstrikes have destroyed or damaged some 16,000 homes and more than 3,300 business units, the Iranian Red Crescent said.
It said more than 60% of all damage is concentrated in just five provinces, including the capital Tehran, the neighbouring province of Alborz, West and East Azerbaijan in the north-west, as well as the industrial province of Khuzestan in the south-west.
The attacks are also taking their toll on Iran's health care sector, with nine hospitals forced to cease operations since the beginning of the war.
Lawmaker Mohammad Jamalian, a member of the parliamentary health commission, said that 18 emergency departments and 25 health centres have also been damaged, and 14 ambulances have been destroyed, according to the Iranian news agency ILNA.
If the war continues, Iran's strategic medicine supplies will last for at least six months, the politician said, adding that there are already shortages of some medicines.
Nationwide, he said 1,400 injured people are reportedly being treated as inpatients.
Well-known monuments have also been damaged, including Isfahan's famous Chehel Sotoun Palace, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Persian Garden.
The Shah Abbas Mosque in Isfahan, one of the most important landmarks of Persian culture, was also damaged, as was Golestan Palace in Tehran, which is also on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and the capital's Grand Bazaar.
Iran's military launches new wave of counterattacks
Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday announced the start of the 34th wave of counterattacks on U.S. positions in the region and targets in Israel.
In a statement broadcast by state radio, it said precision-guided ballistic missiles with warheads weighing over a ton were used. Iranian radio also reported that the attacks made use of cluster munitions, which scatter explosive submunitions across wide areas.
Neither Iran nor Israel have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits their use.
Warning sirens blared out across large parts of Israel throughout the day, with the military repeatedly reporting rocket attacks from Iran.
The military wrote on Telegram that air defences were activated to intercept missiles. No damage was reported and the Magen David Adom emergency service said no injuries had been noted either.
Iran's armed forces said they had also attacked fuel depots in Israel in response to the bombing of Iranian oil reserves.
In a statement broadcast by Iran's state radio, the military said oil and gas infrastructure and fuel tanks in the Israeli port city of Haifa had been attacked with drones.
Wider region hit by renewed strikes
Reports of attacks and damage to sites in surrounding countries continued to surface on Tuesday.
Iran's armed forces said they had attacked the U.S. air base Harir in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq with five rockets, according to Iran's state broadcaster. There was no immediate confirmation from the US.
A spokesman for the German Armed Forces said a military base in Jordan used by German soldiers was again attacked with missiles.
The German part of the al-Azraq base was hit, he said, adding that investigations were under way to determine whether the incident was caused by debris or an incoming rocket.
No details have been released on the source of the attack, but the spokesman said German troops on site were safe in protected structures.
Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon
Israel meanwhile continued its campaign in Lebanon, targeting infrastructure in the south belonging to the militant group Hezbollah, which promptly joined Iran in attacking Israel after the beginning of the conflict.
The strikes focused on areas near the city of Tyre and followed evacuation warnings issued to residents in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Shortly after the warning was issued, an airstrike hit a building in Abbassiyeh, near Tyre.
Overnight, additional strikes were reported in several southern Lebanese towns. Lebanon's National News Agency said Israeli warplanes attacked the towns of al-Majadel, Shaqra and Srifa. Other strikes were also reported in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said a Hezbollah command centre in southern Lebanon was struck overnight after rockets were allegedly launched from the site toward Israel.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of attacking a Lebanese Red Cross vehicle in Majdal Sun on Monday evening, seriously injuring two paramedics.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli positions. The group said it fired multiple volleys of rockets overnight toward Israeli military installations near the border.
Hezbollah also reported a confrontation with Israeli tanks in the Lebanese border town of Khiam.