Tel Aviv, March 2 — Israeli forces said they detected incoming missiles from Iran on Monday and activated the country’s air-defense systems, warning residents in affected areas as sirens sounded nationwide. The Israeli military said “defense systems are working to intercept the threat” and declared a state of high alert after a fresh barrage of projectiles that marked a sharp escalation in the region.
An Iranian official, speaking to Reuters, condemned the scale of the offensive against the Islamic Republic and highlighted its humanitarian impact, saying Iran had “faced intense attacks” while civilians, schools and hospitals suffered damage.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told CNN that Qatar intercepted Iranian attacks aimed at civilian infrastructure, including the international airport, and said those strikes “could not remain unanswered.” Al-Ansari added that “Qatar was not engaging with Iran at the moment.”
Israel also reported high-profile casualties inside Iran from the earlier strikes on February 28. In a Monday statement the Israeli military named two senior Iranian intelligence officials it said were killed during the first wave of attacks: Sayed Yahya Hamidi, described as deputy minister of intelligence for Israel affairs, and Jalal Pour Hossein, identified as head of the espionage division at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. The statement accused them of directing operations against Jews, Western actors, and regime opponents abroad and said additional senior figures were eliminated.
Beyond personnel losses, Iran has accused the United States and Israel of striking strategic sites. Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters the country’s Natanz nuclear facility was hit during US and Israeli operations. “Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” he said at a board meeting of the IAEA.
Iranian state-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that five Iranian soldiers were killed in a US strike on Khorramabad in central-western Iran.
The latest exchanges follow a major military offensive launched on February 28, after which the United States and Israel conducted coordinated operations — named Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion — involving air and missile strikes across Iran targeting military sites, nuclear-related infrastructure, missile batteries, and leadership compounds.
Amid mounting casualties and damage to infrastructure, international leaders and organizations have urged urgent de-escalation to prevent a wider regional war, but the confrontation shows no immediate signs of abating.
