Civilian deaths are growing as more attacks are reported in the capital and other parts of the country.
At least 555 people have been killed in US-Israeli strikes across 131 counties in Iran, the Iranian Red Crescent Society says, amid another wave of intensive attacks and Iranian counterstrikes on Israel and US assets in the Middle East region.
At least 35 people were killed on Monday morning in southern Iran’s Fars province, according to the Mehr news agency. The outlet also reported more than 20 people killed in an attack on Niloofar Square in Tehran.
The Fars news agency said at least two people were killed in the central city of Sanandaj as several residential buildings next to the city’s police station were destroyed. The Tasnim news agency said US and Israeli forces dropped six missiles on different parts of the city, including densely populated neighbourhoods.
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, told reporters that US-Israeli air strikes had targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.
“Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” Najafi said, describing the facility as “peaceful”.
Israel and the US have not issued any statements confirming strikes at the site, which the United States bombed during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from the Iranian capital, said the latest strikes were indicative.
“This shows the scope of the attacks on Iran, with raids targeting not just political centres and military headquarters,” he said. “We are witnessing damage to civilian buildings, with some of them fully demolished in some cases. And this is concerning because the civilian fatalities are growing.”
Videos verified by Al Jazeera also showed huge clouds of smoke billowing behind buildings near the international airport in the central Iranian city of Kermanshah.
Iranian authorities reported that the death toll from an Israeli attack on a girls’ school in Minab on Saturday rose to 180.
Hossein Kermanpour, the head of public relations at Iran’s Ministry of Health, added that the “same type” of missile was used to attack the Gandhi Hospital in Tehran on Sunday. The hospital was badly damaged, and patients were evacuated.
The Israeli military on Monday said Iran had launched more missiles and that air defences were operating to intercept the projectiles. It called on residents to take shelter and remain in protected spaces until informed.
Israeli police said nine people were killed after an Iranian missile attack on the central city of Beit Shemesh. Eleven people were reported missing as rescuers searched for survivors.
Iran continued with its retaliatory strikes on Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with attacks reported on airports, residential buildings and hotels.
Countries in the Gulf have pledged to defend themselves against Iranian attacks, including by “responding to the aggression”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that Tehran was not seeking confrontation with its Gulf neighbours but aimed to attack US assets in the region.