NETANYAHU VOWS TO CONTINUE WAR, ‘ERADICATE IRANIAN REGIME’ AS TEHRAN REFUSES TO SURRENDER

By ‘Sefiu Ajape

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday vowed to continue the war with Iran, declaring that Israel had a “systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime,” even as Tehran insisted it would not surrender.

The Israeli leader made the pledge in a televised address, saying Israel would pursue the conflict “with all our force,” on a day Iran launched repeated waves of missiles and drones toward its Gulf neighbours.

Israel and the United States also intensified strikes on Iranian targets, with one air raid setting a Tehran airport ablaze and another hitting an oil depot, while Iran continued retaliatory attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck America’s Juffair base in Bahrain, claiming the facility had earlier been used to attack an Iranian desalination plant.

Air raid sirens and explosions were reported in Jerusalem in Israel and Doha in Qatar, while attacks were also reported in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The UAE said its air defences intercepted 15 missiles and 119 drones on Saturday morning, although video footage showed one projectile crashing at Dubai airport.

AFP journalists also reported hearing explosions in Baghdad, Erbil, and Dubai on Saturday evening, while Saudi Arabia confirmed an attack.

“Evidence from Iran’s armed forces shows that the geography of some countries in the region is openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy,” said Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s judiciary chief.

“The heavy attacks on these targets will continue.”

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had apologised to Iran’s neighbours, many of which host major US military bases.

In a speech, Pezeshkian also responded to US President Donald Trump’s demand for “unconditional surrender.”

Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” the president said.

Air raids

Israel launched some of its largest air strikes since the bombardment began last Saturday, targeting a military academy, an underground command centre and a missile storage facility.

Fire and smoke were seen rising from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport after a pre-dawn attack in which Israel said it destroyed 16 aircraft and fighter jets.

In his address, Netanyahu said Israel had achieved near-total control of the skies over the Iranian capital.

Meanwhile, Trump had earlier posted on his Truth Social platform, “Today Iran will be hit very hard!”

“Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.”

Later in Florida, he repeated his claim that Iran had been close to acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“They’re crazy and they would have used it. So we did the world a favor,” he said.

Now entering its second week, the war was sparked by joint Israeli and US air strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The conflict has since spread to Lebanon and other parts of the region, including Cyprus, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, and has even reached waters near Sri Lanka, where US forces reportedly sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo.

Within Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential areas has increased, while residents of Tehran have reported rising anxiety and a heavy security presence.

“I don’t think anyone who hasn’t experienced war would understand it,” a 26-year-old teacher told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“When you hear the bombs, you have no idea where they will hit.”

Iran’s health ministry said on Friday that the civilian death toll had reached 926, with around 6,000 injured, though AFP said it could not independently verify the figures.

Israel has also stepped up air strikes on Lebanon, repeatedly bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs and large areas of the country’s south, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is active.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that his country would pay a “very heavy price” if it failed to disarm Hezbollah.

Israeli commandos also launched an unsuccessful overnight mission to retrieve the remains of an air force navigator lost in 1986, during which 41 people were killed in the town of Nabi Sheet.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 294 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes over the past week, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned of a looming “humanitarian disaster.”

Stock markets slump

The impact of the conflict has also spread beyond the immediate region.

Global stock markets have declined sharply, while crude oil prices have surged, with analysts warning that there is no clear path to ending a war that US and Israeli officials suggest could last a month or longer.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had hit two oil tankers with exploding drones in the Gulf on Saturday as part of efforts to disrupt oil and gas traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

Trump has said he would help rebuild Iran’s economy if Tehran installs someone “acceptable” to him as the next supreme leader.

However, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said the United States would have no role in choosing Khamenei’s successor.

“The selection of Iran’s leadership will take place strictly in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people, without any foreign interference,” he said.

China and Russia have largely stayed out of the conflict despite their ties with Iran, though there have been reports that Moscow is providing intelligence to Tehran on US troop movements.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was “not concerned” about the reports.

The war has also claimed the lives of six US service members, and Trump was scheduled to attend a ceremony on Saturday for the return of their bodies.