Major attack on Tehran airport: Video shows burning plane and plumes of smoke
Major attack on Tehran airport: Video shows burning planes and plumes of smoke
Video footage shared by eyewitnesses on social media shows burning planes and plumes of smoke at Mehrabad, Iran's busiest and main domestic airport.
Satellite images from Friday showed several planes at the airport.
Iranian state media also reported attacks on parts of the airport.
The incident came after the Israeli military announced it was launching a "new round of massive air strikes" on Iran.
Israel had previously attacked the airport on March 4. At that time, it claimed that the attack was carried out to destroy defense and detection systems that threatened the Israeli air force, including the airport's helicopter manufacturing unit.
It is not yet clear exactly what parts of the airport were damaged in the new attacks, but witnesses say Friday night's bombing was much more powerful than previous ones.
Trump threatens Iran with 'unconditional surrender'
US President Donald Trump said he would not make a deal with Tehran without Iran's "unconditional surrender". Trump made the comments in a post on his social media account Truth Social on Friday, the seventh day since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on social media that several countries were trying to mediate. Although he did not name any countries.
Trump said on Truth Social that after Iran surrenders, the US and its allies will help rebuild Iran with new "acceptable" Iranian leaders. He wrote, "When Iran surrenders and after a wonderful and acceptable leader (or leaders) is elected, we and our many wonderful and very brave allies and partners will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction. Iran will be made bigger, better and stronger economically than ever before."
"They (Iran) are calling. They're saying, 'How can we make a deal?' I said, 'You're too late,'" Trump claimed to reporters.
Trump has repeatedly called on Iran to surrender and for the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to disarm. On Wednesday, Trump claimed that Iran was looking for a way to negotiate. But he said it was "too late." Trump told reporters, "They (Iran) are calling. They're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, they're too late."
We're not asking for a ceasefire. We've talked to them twice and each time they've attacked us in the middle of the talks. So we don't see any logic in talking now.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran is not asking for a ceasefire. It doesn't see any reason to talk to the United States. "We're not asking for a ceasefire. We've talked to them twice and each time they've attacked us in the middle of the talks. "So we don't see any logic in the discussion now."
According to the BBC's Washington correspondent Daniel Bush, Trump appears to have blocked all possible avenues for a quick end to the war that has spread across the Middle East by calling for Iran to "unconditional surrender". He told the BBC live yesterday that Trump's post signals a new US commitment to continue the war until Tehran surrenders. However, it is difficult to interpret Trump's call for "complete surrender" in any other way than as a sign of the collapse of the current Iranian government. However, so far, the current Iranian regime has shown no signs of surrendering.
Today's Important World News (USA–China–Russia
Update)
US military operations surrounding the Iran war
The US and Israel are conducting major military operations against Iran in the Middle East.
Air strikes have been carried out in Tehran and other cities
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile attacks
Thousands of people have been displaced across the region
The Pentagon has said that the conflict could last for several more weeks.
Allegations of covert Russian assistance
US officials say that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on US military targets.
This information is said to include the locations of US warships and air bases.
China and Russia's cautious stance
Although China and Russia have criticized the US-Israeli attacks,
they have not yet provided direct military assistance to Iran.
Analysts say that the two countries are limited to diplomatic positions to avoid a major war.
New energy competition in the Arctic
The melting ice in the Arctic has created the possibility of new sea routes and energy resources.
This has led to a competition between the US and China to increase their influence there.
China's strategic problems due to a weak Iran
According to analysts, Iran was a major part of China's Middle East strategy.
But due to the recent war and destruction of infrastructure, many of China's investments and plans have been put at risk.
Will Iran's collapse be sustainable?
The US-Israeli coalition says its joint airstrikes have significantly reduced Iran's military strength. US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social that Iran's air defense system, air force, navy and leadership are gone.
On Tuesday (March 3), Trump added in the post, "They wanted to talk. I said, it's too late."
Iran has retaliated by targeting Israel and other Middle Eastern countries where US military bases are located, saying it took the action in self-defense.
However, Israel and the US are far ahead militarily. From that perspective, what options does Iran have in this war? What strategy are they using?
Iran is now pursuing a war of attrition
Dr. H.A. Heller, a Middle East security expert at the Royal United Services Institute, says Iran is no longer trying to defeat the United States and Israel through conventional warfare, but is trying to prolong the conflict, spread it across the region and make it more economically costly.
Iran cannot win a conventional war, but its strategy is to make victory seem more expensive and uncertain to the other side, Heller said.
Nicole Grazzewski, an assistant professor at the Centre for International Studies at the Cité Internationale de l’Etudes in France, agrees.
He says Iran has now adopted a strategy of “war of attrition.” Militarily, this strategy involves constantly damaging the enemy’s weapons, equipment and manpower until their ability to fight is diminished.
There is also a psychological aspect to it.
During last year's 12-day war with Israel, Iran continually shifted its focus to civilian areas, Grazzewski said.
iran missile
According to him, the issue of accurate targeting is not very important. A psychological fear and panic can be created among the people.
The 12-day war caused significant damage to Iran's ballistic missile arsenal, but the exact number is still unknown, because many weapons are stored underground and new weapons are being produced, Grazzewski said.
According to Israeli estimates, Iran had about 2,500 missiles as of February this year. Of these, there are two types of missiles - short-range with a range of 1,000 kilometers and medium-range with a range of 1 to 3,000 kilometers.
Iranian officials say that the missiles they have used include the 'Sajil' missile, which has a range of about 2,000 kilometers, as well as the 'Fatah' missile, which is capable of traveling faster than sound.Missile City
Iranian officials and the country's media often refer to "missile city," which is actually an underground missile depot. The size of these depots and the number of missiles they contain are not known for sure.
However, the top US commander, General Dan Cain, says that the number of Iranian ballistic missile launches has decreased by 86 percent since the first day of the war on Saturday, February 28. The US Central Command, or CentCom, said on Tuesday that the number had dropped by another 23 percent.
Still, Heller believes that Iran still has the ability to attack Israeli installations, US bases in the region and US allies in the Gulf, as well as the threat to global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
He says that even a minor disruption in the strait would have a major impact on the global economy.
Twenty percent of the world's oil passes through the narrow strait, which Iran has now effectively blocked. It has also threatened to attack any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Although Iran may face a shortage of fuel for its sophisticated missiles and rocket launchers, Grazzewski says the drones it has in stock are very important.
Iran is believed to have built thousands of 'Shaheed' drones for one-way attacks before the war. They have exported the technical design of these drones to Russia, and even the United States has made copies of them.
In addition to directly attacking and damaging important installations, these drones also have a strategic purpose - to deal with these drone attacks so that the opponent has to use valuable 'interceptor missiles', which gradually deteriorates the enemy's air defense system.
One way to do this, says Nicole Grazzewski, is to eliminate interceptors. Iran has adopted this strategy using unmanned aircraft and drones. Russia has also adopted the same strategy in Ukraine.
However, the United States says that the number of Iranian drone launches has decreased by 73 percent since the first day of the conflict.
Can Iran prolong the conflict?
Iran has the largest military in the Middle East. According to the report titled 'Military Balance 2025' published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iran has about 610,000 soldiers at all times.
Of these, 350,000 are directly in the army. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which conducts missile launches and drone launches in addition to regular work, has 190,000 members.
Iran also has some regional allies, such as the Houthi rebel group, several armed groups in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
However, the conflict that spread to the region after Hamas launched an attack from Gaza in October 2023 has caused significant damage to Iran's self-proclaimed "axis of resistance."airport Israel-US intensify attacks on Iran
Despite recent problems, Iran has a long history of dealing with conflict, said Grazjewski. This has been observed since the Iran-Iraq war.
However, how much this Iranian strategy will work will depend on how much unity there is within the country.
Grazjewski said that everything will depend on how much the security and political top leadership can remain united and whether there are any differences between them. If this is indeed the case, chaos could also arise in military strategy.
It seems that those who are launching the missiles are under a lot of pressure, they are also exhausted. At this time, launching missiles can go wrong, they can go wrong in targeting. A lot of things seem very disorganized, and fatigue is also evident, Grazjewski said.
If Iran’s missile arsenal is repeatedly attacked at a time like this, the forces could inadvertently escalate the conflict.
Will the conflict escalate?
Grazjewski quoted Turkish officials as saying that NATO air defense systems had neutralized an Iranian ballistic missile that flew over their country on Wednesday.
Iran’s neighbor Turkey had wanted to mediate a dialogue between the United States and Iran before the war started. Turkey also sent a message to all sides that they should not do anything that could escalate the conflict.
But Iran’s larger goal was to make it so difficult for its neighbors to
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