Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that strikes on Iran will “escalate and expand” if Iran keeps launching missiles.
His warning was accompanied by what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described as heavy strikes against targets in “the heart of Tehran,” including Iran’s missile production facilities.
Speaking after the latest round of Iranian missiles targeting Israel’s cities was largely intercepted, Katz vowed Iran “will pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime.”
Katz was not speaking hyperbolically about Iran’s missile attacks, as they are literal war crimes involving unguided cluster munitions – weapons of mass civilian slaughter that were outlawed by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, neither Iran nor Israel signed that convention.
“The prime minister and I warned the Iranian terror regime to stop the missile fire toward the civilian population in Israel,” he said.
“Despite the warnings, the firing continues – and therefore attacks in Iran will escalate and expand to additional targets and areas that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli citizens,” he said in a video statement.
The IDF reported on Friday that the Israeli Air Force struck Iran’s “most central” facility for producing “advanced missiles intended for launch from cruise vessels, submarines and helicopters toward mobile and stationary maritime targets.”
“This is a site where most of the missiles and naval mines are developed by the Iranian navy forces,” the IDF said.
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Israeli analysts judged that the bombing of the facility in Iran’s central city of Yazd “constitutes a significant blow to the production capabilities of the naval forces.” Another blow was the reported elimination of Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, in a strike on Thursday.
The Israeli Air Force said dozens of other weapons manufacturing sites, military bases, ballistic missile launch sites, and anti-aircraft facilities in Iran were bombed on Thursday night, including a facility that produces “key components for ballistic missiles.”
The IDF further said it pinpointed the location of Iranian soldiers who were “planning to advance fire toward the state of Israel” and bombed their headquarters before they could carry out their plans.
Iran launched several ballistic missiles at Israeli cities on Friday, at least one of them carrying a cluster bomb warhead. The IDF said the Iranian weapons were all intercepted, although the cluster bomb managed to drop bomblets over a large area, without causing major damage or injuries.
Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia all reported Iranian attacks on Friday, involving both missiles and drones.
Kuwait said two of its commercial ports suffered “material damage but no human casualties” from the Iranian attacks.
One of Iran’s targets was apparently a facility under construction at the Mubarak al-Kabeer Port that was part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – the first time a Chinese asset in the region was hit by Iran since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.
Iranian forces also turned two Chinese-owned container ships from the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, marking a significant escalation of tensions with Iran’s major geopolitical ally. The Chinese government did not immediately comment on the port strike or Strait of Hormuz incidents.
Two people were killed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, and three others were injured, by debris from an intercepted Iranian missile.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry on Friday said it intercepted Iranian missiles targeting the national capital of Riyadh. At least eight Iranian drones also targeted the kingdom on Thursday night.
Saudi sources told several international media outlets that de facto chief executive Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is standing firm against the Iranian attacks, and has in fact urged President Donald Trump not to end Operation Epic Fury before its goals have been met.
Trump responded to those reports by saying of MBS: “Yeah, he’s a warrior. He’s fighting with us.”
Analysts told the UK Guardian that if Iran refuses to engage in ceasefire negotiations mediated by Pakistan, the Saudi military could finally begin operations against Iran.
“If Iran engages seriously, there is still a path to contain escalation. If it rejects the conditions and continues its attacks, the threshold for Saudi action will be crossed,” said Saudi geopolitical analyst Mohammed Alhamed.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) speculated on Thursday that Iran’s missile strikes against Riyadh are less intimidating to the Saudis than the possibility that Iran could target shipping in the Red Sea, cutting off Saudi Arabia’s only remaining route for seaborne oil shipments.
“The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is among the most strategic straits in the world, and Iran has both the will and the capability to pose a fully credible threat against it,” an Iranian official threatened on Wednesday.
If Iran threatens the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, its Houthi proxies in Yemen – who have a long history of harassing Red Sea shipping – would almost certainly assist in the effort, and that would almost certainly cross the line for Saudi Arabia to enter the war.
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