Smoke rises following an explosion, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. (Credit: Naser Safarzadeh/WANA via Reuters) Smoke rises following an explosion, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. (Credit: Naser Safarzadeh/WANA via Reuters)
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian vowed Saturday that his country would never surrender, as Israel announced a new offensive involving 80 fighter jets that struck targets in Tehran, including one of the capital’s main airports.
The wave of Israeli raids launched before dawn Saturday was one of the largest since the bombing campaign began on Feb. 28, targeting a military academy, an underground command center and a missile storage site, according to the Israeli military.
AFP photos showed flames and smoke rising from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, one of two airports serving the capital. Israel also reported a new wave of strikes in Isfahan, a major city in central Iran.
But Pezeshkian insisted that Iran would not surrender as his country carried out retaliatory strikes targeting military bases and oil facilities in several neighboring countries.
“The enemies [Israel and the United States] can take to their graves their wish to see the Iranian people surrender,” he said in a speech broadcast on state television. He also apologized to neighboring countries for Iranian strikes that have targeted them since the conflict began.
Iranian strikes
Earlier Saturday, Israel said it responded to an Iranian missile attack, before later lifting the alert.
Tehran also said it struck an oil tanker in the Gulf, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported targeting “separatist groups” in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, said Saturday it had partially resumed operations after briefly suspending flights earlier in the morning following an interception over the airport, according to an AFP witness.
On Friday evening, Donald Trump said he was pleased that military operations were “going very well,” after writing on his Truth Social platform that there would be “no deal with Iran, only UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”
His comments helped push oil prices up more than 35 percent in a week, their highest level since 2023.
Trump also announced that major U.S. defense companies would quadruple production of advanced weapons, while the State Department approved the sale of 12,000 bombs to Israel.
About 1,000 killed in Iran
Bombings have continued relentlessly in recent days. The Israeli military said it struck about 400 targets across Iran on Friday.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it has hit more than 3,000 targets since the launch of Operation Epic Fury.
According to Iranian authorities, about 1,000 people have been killed since the start of the war, including 30 percent children, a government spokesperson said Friday. AFP could not independently verify those claims.
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