US and Israel step up attacks as war with Iran engulfs region
Iranian retaliatory strikes continue with drone and missile attacks as conflict spreads through Gulf nations.
Multiple locations across Iran are being bombarded, and Tehran is carrying out retaliatory attacks across the region, as the United States-Israeli war on Iran entered its fifth day, with the death toll rising and no end to the conflict in sight.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency said explosions were heard in different parts of the Iranian capital on Wednesday, and Iranian state television showed the rubble of a building in central Tehran. The holy city of Qom and several other cities were also targeted.
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The agency said the death toll from the US-Israeli attacks now stood at 1,045.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said there had been what the Israelis were calling “the 10th wave of attacks against Iran”.
“Tehran has been at the centre of that, but also Karaj and Isfahan, both east and west of the capital,” he said, adding that five people were killed, while there were also reports of schools being hit in these attacks.
In the meantime, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said damage was visible at two buildings near the Isfahan nuclear site, but there was no damage to facilities containing nuclear material and no risk of radiological release at this time.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned on Wednesday that Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant was under threat from US-Israeli air strikes and that explosions could be heard not far from its perimeter.
In Israel, air raid sirens sounded across the country, with people rushing to shelters, as incoming Iranian missiles triggered loud blasts from interception attempts.
Earlier in the day, Israel issued an alert, instructing residents to head to shelters as missiles had been launched from Iran and defence systems were working to “intercept the threat”.
The order to seek shelter covered Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other areas across the country. Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, said it had received no reports of casualties.
“From where we are right now in Ramallah, we heard very loud explosions, and they could be because of interceptions,” Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reported.
Ibrahim said it appeared to be a wide salvo, complicating Israeli air defence efforts.
“According to Israeli media, there has been shrapnel from interceptions that fell in the area of Beit Shemesh, the city near the west of Jerusalem, where shrapnel, or a missile, fell two days ago and killed nine Israelis,” she added.
The Israeli military had reported a previous missile launch from Iran several hours earlier, as well.
Tehran has kept up its retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israel and countries across the Gulf, including Qatar, as US President Donald Trump claimed the conflict could last a month.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani demanded an end to the attacks on Gulf countries in a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, the Qatari foreign ministry said.
During the call, Araghchi told Sheikh Mohammed that his country’s attacks were directed at US interests and did not target Qatar itself, the ministry said.
Sheikh Mohammed “firmly rejected these claims, stressing that the facts on the ground clearly show that the attacks struck civilian and residential areas inside the State of Qatar”.
Sheikh Mohammed called for the “immediate cessation” of Iran’s attack on Gulf countries and stressed that the attacks revealed “no goodwill on Iran’s part toward its neighbours”,
He said that while Qatar prefers dialogue and diplomacy, it will “confront any aggression … affirming that these attacks cannot go unanswered.”
Attacks on Iran continue
Explosions sounded in Tehran on Wednesday as the Israeli military said it conducted a series of strikes across Iran’s capital targeting its forces.
It said it hit buildings associated with the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Israeli military also said it hit buildings associated with Iran’s internal security command, which has also suppressed demonstrations in the past.
Asadi reported the IRGC announcing that “ground forces entered battlefield operations” in which 230 drones were engaged.
“Also, they were talking about a naval operation targeting US military ships,” he added.
“In Tehran, I see no sign of de-escalation, and escalation is the name of the game,” Asadi concluded.
When complex nuclear negotiations are treated like a real estate transaction, and when big lies cloud realities, unrealistic expectations can never be met.
The outcome? Bombing the negotiation table out of spite.
Mr. Trump betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 4, 2026
Foreign Minister Araghchi slammed Trump on Wednesday, saying he had “betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him”.
“When complex nuclear negotiations are treated like a real estate transaction, and when big lies cloud realities, unrealistic expectations can never be met,” he said in a post on X.
“The outcome? Bombing the negotiation table out of spite.”