Iran-Israel Conflict Enters Day 4 as Civilian Casualties Mount

Over 240 Dead as Missile Strikes Escalate, Capitals on Alert, and Fears of Wider Regional War Intensify

By Abdullahi Yusuf

The fourth day of open war between Israel and Iran witnessed an escalation in missile attacks, rising death tolls, and heightened fears of a wider regional conflict.

Dozens of explosions rocked both capitals as the two nations traded heavy firepower, with Israeli jets striking deep into Iran and Tehran responding with ballistic missile barrages.

Hajj Iran reported over 220 dead, including 70 women and children, following fresh Israeli airstrikes in Tehran and across central provinces like Isfahan.

Israeli Channel 12 said dozens of Iranian military targets were hit, including missile depots and convoys transporting launchers to Tehran.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed to have destroyed one-third of Iran’s missile launchers since Friday and neutralised more than 120 launch pads. Fighter jets pounded Iranian missile storage sites in Isfahan in overnight raids.

In retaliation, Iran launched a powerful salvo of missiles early Monday morning, striking Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa, damaging a power plant and claiming the lives of eight people, with one still missing.

Israeli emergency services said that 21 people have been killed and over 630 wounded since hostilities erupted last Friday.

Amid the chaos, both nations issued urgent evacuation alerts. Israel, in an unprecedented move, released a Persian-language warning to residents of Tehran’s diplomatic zone—home to foreign embassies and UN offices—urging them to flee.

In response, Iran called on civilians in Tel Aviv to evacuate, signalling that the conflict may no longer spare urban centres.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the death of six Guard members and two Basij paramilitaries in Khomein city. Separately, three senior IRGC officers, including the intelligence chief, were confirmed killed on Sunday, underscoring the high-profile nature of the Israeli strikes.

Iranian authorities closed the Tehran-Qom highway after targeted attacks disrupted traffic and raised fears of further missile strikes in the heart of the country. The IRGC’s public relations wing condemned the Israeli assault, calling it a psychological tactic aimed at spreading fear and destabilising Iranian cities.

Despite the intensifying bombardment, the UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi confirmed that no damage was sustained by Iran’s key enrichment facilities at Natanz or Fordow—assuaging fears of an immediate nuclear threat.

Regional leaders expressed growing alarm. In a Monday phone call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the rapidly deteriorating situation. Ankara’s statement condemned Israel’s “cycle of violence” and warned that further escalation could “destabilise the entire region.”

President Erdoğan accused the Netanyahu government of flouting international law and warned that the region “cannot bear another war.”

On the Iranian side, newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a televised address to a nation on edge. Calling for national unity, he vowed to honor the dead and resist Israeli aggression.

“Every fallen martyr will be followed by hundreds,” he declared. “We are not the aggressor. This is a moment for all Iranians to stand hand in hand.”

The rapid succession of strikes, high-profile assassinations, and cross-capital evacuation alerts mark a dangerous new phase in the Israel-Iran conflict. Both sides appear unwilling to back down, and with civilian casualties mounting and regional actors voicing alarm, the prospect of full-scale regional war looms ominously.

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