TEHRAN/TEL AVIV: Iran’s state broadcaster was briefly knocked off air by a Zionist strike and explosions rang out across Tehran Monday, after a barrage of Zionist missiles killed 11 people in the Zionist entity on the fourth day of an escalating air war. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Iranian forces will “pummel” the Zionist entity until the attacks against the Islamic Republic stop.

“Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes,” said Araghchi in a post on X. “We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people,” he added.

The sudden flare-up in hostilities has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer saying from a G7 summit in Canada that he believed there was “a consensus for de-escalation” among leaders of the club of wealthy democracies. Zionist strikes have so far killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities.

Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warning Monday of “effective, targeted and more devastating operations” to come. In Tehran, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was abruptly cut when an Israeli strike hit its building on Monday. A presenter in the midst of lambasting the Zionist entity was forced to flee mid-broadcast when a powerful explosion rocked the building, knocking out the monitors behind her and sending debris and dust falling from the ceiling, footage showed.

IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying “the voice of the Islamic revolution... will not be silenced with a military operation”. Explosions could also be heard elsewhere across the capital, including in the west, where a cloud of black smoke billowed into the sky. After days of repeated strikes, residents appeared to be streaming out of the city, according to social media posts verified by AFP, showing huge traffic jams on the main road heading north.

In the Zionist entity, Iranian attacks on Monday hit Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa – leaving behind shattered homes, smoldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris. “I have four children, four boys. We’re very scared, but everyone is OK,” said Idan Bar, whose building in Petah Tikva was among those hit. The death toll in Israel rose by 11 on Monday, the prime minister’s office said, bringing the total since Friday to 24. The figure included three people killed when a missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa on Sunday, according to a Zionist official.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused the Zionist entity’s multi-layered defense systems to target each other so missiles could get through. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that a nearby missile strike also lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the US State Department warned citizens on Monday not to travel to the Zionist entity due to security concerns. At the same time, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was leaving Southeast Asia after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it is headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence as the Zionist entity and Iran battle.

Britain’s Starmer told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies on Monday that he believed his fellow leaders were united in wanting de-escalation between Israel and Iran. “The risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications – not just for the region but globally – are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation,” he said.

China urged both sides to “immediately take measures to cool down the tensions” and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil. Iran, in turn, demanded that the International Atomic Energy Agency to “take a firm position” in condemning Zionist strikes on its nuclear facilities. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that Ankara was ready to play a “facilitating role” to end the conflict.

The Zionist military said Monday it had destroyed 120 missile launchers, describing this as a third of Iran’s total. Addressing Iran’s parliament, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged citizens to “stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence”. US President Donald Trump has insisted Washington had “nothing to do” with its ally’s campaign, but warned any Iranian attack on American interests would trigger “the full strength” of the US military.

After indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran were scuttled by the Zionist entity’s attack, Trump on Monday urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table. “They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” he said from the G7 summit. On Monday, Iranian lawmakers floated the idea of quitting the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a move bound to be seen as a setback for any negotiations.

A senior US official told AFP Trump had intervened to prevent the Zionist entity from carrying out an assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Monday that assassinating Khamenei would “end the conflict” between the two arch-foes. “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” Netanyahu told ABC News in an interview when asked about reports that Trump vetoed a Zionist plan to kill the supreme leader out of concern it would intensify the Iran-Zionist showdown. – Agencies