Live: Iran holds funeral for top military, nuclear figures killed in Israeli strikes

Former Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has called for oil tankers and LNG shipments to pass through the Strait of Hormuz only with Tehran’s authorisation, urging the measure be enforced “tomorrow for a hundred days”.

In a post on X, Khandouzi wrote: “This policy is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country.”

It remains unclear whether his remarks reflect an official government stance or his personal view. Iran’s oil and foreign ministries have yet to comment.

Israel appears to have forgotten a lesson from the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980. Instead of inducing regime change, it led to the people of Iran rallying behind the Islamic Republic in the name of nationalism, not necessarily out of love for the clerical elite. 

Rather than fuelling internal dissent, Israel’s recent strikes have similarly sparked a resurgence of nationalist feeling - centred not on support for the regime, but on defence of the nation. 

There have been public mourning ceremonies and online tributes. Even some of those once aligned with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement have begun expressing solidarity with those they now frame as “defenders of the homeland”. 

In working-class neighbourhoods and rural areas, where opposition movements had struggled to gain a foothold, such sentiments are even stronger.

Read more: Why Israel's attacks are backfiring as Iranians rally around the flag

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as tensions mount over possible Israeli attacks and growing speculation about US involvement in the conflict, according to Tasnim news agency.

The session took place at the presidential palace earlier this morning, the agency said.

Images published by Tasnim showed First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref seated alongside other senior officials during the meeting.

Iranian police have reportedly intercepted 14 Israeli drones, according to a statement by police spokesperson Saeed Montazerolmahdi, cited by the Iranian Labour News Agency.

Montazerolmahdi added that security forces had also located several workshops manufacturing hostile drones, along with vehicles transporting them, in different provinces across the country.

In a packed room at the first State Department press briefing since Israel launched air strikes on Iran on Friday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce dodged far more questions than she answered, referring reporters to the Trump administration's central messaging depot: the White House.

More specifically, Donald Trump's Truth Social account. That account, since Monday, has only conveyed threats to Iran.

First, Trump told Tehran's 14 million residents to evacuate the capital, causing waves of panic and traffic jams across the city. Then he suggested he could kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But he won't, for the time being, he said. And as night fell on Iran after the fifth day of Israeli air strikes, he demanded "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" from the Islamic Republic. 

The US president made the posts while attending the first day of the G7 Summit in Canada. He then abruptly left 24 hours earlier than his schedule was due to wrap up, even skipping a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Read more: State Department pushes 'peace' narrative as Trump threatens Iran

A senior figure in Yemen’s Houthi movement has declared the group’s readiness to back Iran militarily if tensions with Israel intensify, echoing its past support for Palestinians in Gaza.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Mubasher on Tuesday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the group’s political bureau, confirmed the Houthis are in ongoing coordination with Tehran as confrontations with Israel escalate.

The Houthis, who have already launched several attacks targeting Israel in solidarity with Gaza, announced on Sunday that their latest operations were carried out in coordination with Iran—marking the first time a Tehran-backed faction has publicly admitted to direct cooperation on such strikes.

The Israeli military says dozens of its fighter jets bombed sites across Iran in the latest round of airstrikes, claiming to target facilities tied to Tehran’s nuclear and weapons production.

In a statement shared via Telegram, the military said:

• “More than 50 Israeli Air Force planes carried out an attack in Iran in recent hours,” hitting a “centrifuge production site” and “several weapons productions sites.”

• The strikes were part of “the extensive effort to damage Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme.”

• Additional targets included facilities producing “raw materials and components” for both surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons, a position supported by the most recent assessments from the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, and the US intelligence community.

Israel has launched an airlift to bring home citizens left stranded overseas following its surprise military strike on Iran.

The operation began on Wednesday, with the first repatriation flight landing at Ben Gurion Airport from Larnaca, Cyprus, marking the start of a phased return plan.

According to Israel’s transport ministry, more than 50,000 nationals are currently waiting to return.

National airline El Al is leading the effort, with additional flights scheduled from cities including Athens, Rome, Milan and Paris. Private carriers Arkia and Israir are also contributing to the repatriation mission.

Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport has remained shut to outbound and inbound passenger flights since the Israeli attack was launched last Friday on Iran.

Two US-based defence think tanks say Israel has bombarded Iranian territory far more extensively than Iran has managed to retaliate.

Analysts from the Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War say the scale of Israeli air raids on Iran vastly outweighs Tehran’s counterattacks.

Here’s what they found:

• Since Israel’s June 13 offensive, “197 reported or confirmed air strikes on Iran” have been carried out by Israeli forces.

• In contrast, Iran has launched just “39 reported or confirmed ballistic missile strikes or interceptor impacts in Israel.”

• The think tanks noted a “sharp decline” in Iran’s missile barrage sizes, linking it to “Israel’s destruction of missile launchers and storage facilities.”

A senior officer at the Pentagon has come under scrutiny over a series of social media posts sharply critical of Israel, its leadership, and US foreign policy in the region.

Colonel Nathan McCormack, who leads the Levant and Egypt branch at the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate, has used a semi-anonymous account to post numerous comments targeting Israeli actions and US support.

The posts, reportedly written since the 7 October 2023, have sparked outrage among pro-Israel circles in Washington. The story was first reported by the Jewish News Syndicate.

Here’s what he said:

• “Netanyahu and his Judeo-supremacist cronies are determined to prolong the conflict for their own goals: either to remain in power or to annex the land.”

• “Israel’s actions over decades have prompted the accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

• “The Western states go to great lengths to avoid criticism of Israel, much out of Holocaust guilt.”

• “Our worst ‘ally.’ We get literally nothing out of the ‘partnership’ other than the enmity of millions of people in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.”

• “The US has not been an honest broker. We have overwhelmingly enabled Israel’s bad behavior.”

• Responding to the idea of relocating Gaza’s population, McCormack wrote that Israel wants “to expel them and cleanse ‘Eretz Israel’ (Greater Israel) of ethnic Palestinians.”

• Since June 2024 he also called Israel a “death cult”

McCormack has held his current Pentagon post since June 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. Shortly after the report was published the Pentagon told Jewish News Syndicate it is “aware of the situation” and “looking into the matter”.

A US-based rights watchdog says at least 585 people have been killed in Iran as a result of Israeli strikes, with more than 1,300 others wounded.

Human Rights Activists, a group based in Washington, DC, reported that among the dead are 239 civilians and 126 members of Iran’s security forces.

Tehran has not provided frequent updates on casualties. Its most recent figures, released on Monday, listed 224 dead and 1,277 injured.

The group, which became prominent for documenting the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, said it compiles its data by verifying local reports with its network of sources across Iran.

The United States has temporarily shuttered its controversial embassy in Jerusalem and its consular section in Tel Aviv, citing escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

The closure, which will remain in effect until Friday, comes after the Israeli military’s Home Front Command issued new safety directives amid fears of further violence.

“All US government employees and their family members have been instructed to shelter in place at or near their homes until further notice,” the embassy said.

In a statement, US officials said there were no plans to help private citizens leave Israel at this time.

“We will alert the US citizen community if there is additional information to share regarding departure options,” the embassy added.

The situation for those attempting to leave the country remains bleak. Ben Gurion Airport is shut, with no commercial or charter flights in operation. Israel’s seaports are also closed.

However, land crossings to Jordan remain open and are expected to operate on Wednesday, the embassy noted.

Hello and welcome to Middle East Eye's live coverage as we track the latest developments following Israel's strikes on Iran, now entering their sixth day and marking a major escalation in regional tensions.

• Israel launches fresh strikes on Tehran after warning residents near Mehrabad Airport’s District 18 to evacuate.

• Iran retaliates with missile attacks, with explosions reported over Tel Aviv. Shrapnel sparks a fire in a central Israeli car park.

• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declares “the battle begins” in a post on X, following a warning from US President Donald Trump: “We know exactly where the so-called Supreme Leader is hiding… We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now… Our patience is wearing thin.”

• Trump demands Iran’s "unconditional surrender", claiming the US now has "complete control over Iran’s skies".

• The US deploys additional fighter jets to the Middle East amid escalating tensions.

• IAEA revises assessment, confirming Israel’s strike on Natanz nuclear site directly hit an underground enrichment facility.

• In Gaza, US forces kill at least 89 Palestinians, including 70 people gathering for food aid in Khan Younis.

The Israeli military issued a forced displacement order an industrial area of the Iranian capital near Mehrabad Airport.

“In the coming hours, the [Israeli] military will operate in the area as it has in the past days in areas of Tehran to attack military infrastructure belonging to the regime,” an Israeli army spokesperson said on early Wednesday. 

Israel has been pounding targets across Tehran. 

A member of Yemen's Houthi movement told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the group will intervene to support Iran against Israel like it did in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement's political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV that the group is coordinating with Tehran.