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Tehran: Tehran threatened on Monday to inflict “serious” damage in retaliation for US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities, as the Iran-Israel war entered its 11th day despite calls for de-escalation.

Aerial assaults meanwhile raged on, with air raid sirens sounding across Israel and AFP journalists reporting several blasts were heard over Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said it had struck missile sites in western Iran as well as “six Iranian regime airports” across the country, destroying fighter jets and helicopters.

President Donald Trump said US warplanes used “bunker buster” bombs to target sites in Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, boasting the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Other officials said it was too soon to assess the true impact on Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel and some Western states consider an existential threat.

Iranian armed forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on state television that the US “hostile act,” following more than a week of Israeli bombardments, would “pave the way for the extension of war in the region.”

“The fighters of Islam will inflict serious, unpredictable consequences on you with powerful and targeted (military) operations,” he warned.

Global markets reacted nervously, with oil prices jumping more than four percent early Monday. China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout.

Oman, a key mediator in the stalled Iran-US nuclear talks, condemned the US strikes and called for calm.

Iran’s foreign ministry accused Washington of betraying diplomacy.

“Future generations will not forget that the Iranians were in the middle of a diplomatic process with a country that is now at war with us,” said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

Britain, France and Germany called on Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region.”

As the world awaited Iran’s response, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the bombing campaign Israel launched on June 13 “a big mistake.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to help deter Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

With Iran threatening US bases in the region, the State Department issued a worldwide alert cautioning Americans abroad.

In central Tehran on Sunday, protesters waved flags and chanted slogans against US and Israeli attacks.

In the province of Semnan east of the capital, 46-year-old housewife Samireh said she was “truly shocked” by the strikes.

“Semnan province is very far from the nuclear facilities targeted, but I’m very concerned for the people who live near,” she told AFP.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the US strikes revealed Washington was “behind” Israel’s campaign against the Islamic republic and vowed a response.

After the Pentagon stressed the goal of American intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump openly toyed with the idea.

“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???“

Hours later he doubled down on emphasising the success of his strikes.

“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” Trump wrote, without sharing the images he was referencing.

At a Pentagon press briefing earlier in the day, top US general Dan Caine said “initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his country’s bombardments would “finish” once the stated objectives of destroying Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved.

“We are very, very close to completing them,” he said.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran’s health ministry said. Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures.

Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but it had not been possible to assess the underground damage.

“Armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, had accused the United States of deciding to “blow up” nuclear diplomacy with its intervention in the war.

While Russia condemned the Israeli and US strikes, it has not offered military help and has downplayed its obligations under a sweeping strategic partnership agreement signed with Tehran just months ago.

On Sunday, Russia, China and Pakistan circulated a draft resolution with other Security Council members that calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Iran.

Tehran: Tehran threatened on Monday to inflict “serious” damage in retaliation for US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities, as the Iran-Israel war entered its 11th day despite calls for de-escalation.

Aerial assaults meanwhile raged on, with air raid sirens sounding across Israel and AFP journalists reporting several blasts were heard over Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said it had struck missile sites in western Iran as well as “six Iranian regime airports” across the country, destroying fighter jets and helicopters.

President Donald Trump said US warplanes used “bunker buster” bombs to target sites in Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, boasting the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Other officials said it was too soon to assess the true impact on Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel and some Western states consider an existential threat.

Iranian armed forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on state television that the US “hostile act,” following more than a week of Israeli bombardments, would “pave the way for the extension of war in the region.”

“The fighters of Islam will inflict serious, unpredictable consequences on you with powerful and targeted (military) operations,” he warned.

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Israeli strikes on Iran kill at least 950, wound 3,450 others, says human rights group

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, a human rights group said Monday.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel being killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. On Saturday, Iran’s Health Ministry said some 400 Iranians had been killed and another 3,056 wounded in the Israeli strikes.

Iran foreign minister to meet key ally Putin

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due to hold “important” talks with key ally Vladimir Putin on Monday, 48 hours after a major US attack on Iran’s key nuclear facilities.

Moscow is a crucial backer of Tehran, but has not swung forcefully behind its partner since Israel launched a wave of attacks on June 13, strikes that triggered Iran to respond with missiles and drones.

While Russia condemned the Israeli and US strikes, it has not offered military help and has downplayed its obligations under a sweeping strategic partnership agreement signed with Tehran just months ago.

“In this new dangerous situation ... our consultations with Russia can certainly be of great importance,” Russian state media reported Araghchi as saying after landing in Moscow.

Australia says it supports US strike, calls for return to diplomacy

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that Canberra supported the United States strike on Iran and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.

“The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Albanese said “the information has been clear” that Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent and “there is no other explanation for it to reach 60, other than engaging in a program that wasn’t about civilian nuclear power.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog that inspects Iran’s nuclear facilities, reported on May 31 that Iran had enough uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons.

“Had Iran complied with the very reasonable requests that were made, including by the IAEA, then circumstances would have been different,” said Albanese, referring to limitations on enrichment.