Iran launches wave of missiles at Israel

Israel launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, ‌targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters, Reuters reported.

As the U.S.–Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets, opens new tab and prompting thousands of stranded tourists and residents to try to flee the Middle East.

Iran's foreign minister called the sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, which killed at least 80 people, an “atrocity ​at sea”.

REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAY IRAN CONTROLS STRAIT OF HORMUZ

He said the Iranian frigate Dena, a guest of the Indian navy with nearly 130 sailors on board, had been ​struck without warning in international waters, and warned that Washington would “bitterly regret” the precedent it had set.

"We have decided to fight Americans wherever they ⁠are," General Kioumars Heydari, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told state TV, adding Iran did not care how long the war lasts.

Later on Thursday, the Revolutionary Guards said they ​had hit a U.S. tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel was on fire. The Guards said in the statement carried by state media that in time of ​war passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be under the control of the Islamic Republic.

NATO air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile fired towards the country on Wednesday, Turkey said, marking the first time the alliance member bordering Asia has been drawn into the Middle East conflict and raising the possibility of a major expansion involving its bloc allies.

But the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff on Thursday denied it had fired missiles at ​Turkey, saying the Islamic Republic respected the sovereignty of “friendly” Turkey, according to a statement carried by Iranian media.

In Washington late on Wednesday, Republican senators blocked a motion aimed at stopping the U.S. air ​campaign against Iran and requiring that military action be authorized by Congress. That rejection leaves President Donald Trump's power to direct the war largely unbound, as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East and ‌beyond.

U.S. Defense Secretary ⁠Pete Hegseth told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz by telephone: "Keep going until the end - we’re with you”, according to a statement issued by Israel's defence ministry on Thursday.