Washington – Tehran: Europe and the Arabs – Agencies

As Gulf states were subjected to renewed attacks, plans for a US ground operation were announced, while Israel vowed to destroy Iran's military industries within days. Tehran stated that targeting its universities and research centers reveals the true objective behind the aggression. According to European media in Brussels, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced that it had intercepted and destroyed 10 drones in the past few hours. No further details were released regarding the locations where the drones were shot down or whether there were any damage or casualties.

The Israeli army announced that it had concluded a new series of attacks on Tehran, targeting temporary command centers and weapons production sites. According to the Israeli army, the Iranian regime had moved a number of command centers to mobile units after previous sites were attacked. Several of these centers were dismantled, according to the Israeli army. It was also reported that commanders operating from main headquarters were targeted.

Two people sustained minor injuries in an Iranian attack on the Bahrain Aluminum (Alba) plant. The Bahrain-based group announced this Sunday morning in a press release carried by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

The company is currently assessing the extent of the damage to its facilities. Earlier this month, Alba announced a 19% reduction in its production capacity due to "disruptions to supply and transportation in the Strait of Hormuz," which Iran has closed since the start of the war.

The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait also reported attacks on their territories. The US Department of Defense stated Sunday morning: "UAE air defenses are actively countering missile and drone threats."

According to The Washington Post, the Pentagon is preparing for potential ground operations in Iran that could last for weeks.

The US Department of Defense is preparing for potential ground operations in Iran, according to The Washington Post, citing US officials.

According to the newspaper, plans are being drawn up within the Pentagon for ground military operations in Iran that could last for several weeks. However, it remains unclear whether US President Donald Trump will actually authorize the deployment of ground troops. According to the report, no final decision has yet been made on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry asserted that Washington and Tel Aviv are waging a systematic war targeting Iran's scientific and cultural foundations, considering the nuclear issue to be merely a fabricated pretext to conceal the true intentions of their aggression.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei stated on his X account: "Isfahan University of Technology and Tehran University of Science and Technology are just two examples among the many universities and research centers that have been deliberately attacked by the aggressors during the past thirty days of their illegal war against the Iranian people."

He added: "In reality, the American-Israeli aggression against Iran continues to reveal its true objective: to undermine our country's scientific infrastructure and cultural heritage by systematically targeting universities, research centers, historical landmarks, and prominent scientists."

Baghaei concluded his post by emphasizing that "the claims of confronting the Iranian nuclear program and the imminent threat were nothing but malicious pretexts and fabricated lies to conceal the true intentions of this aggression." It is worth noting that the United States and Israel began launching airstrikes on targets inside Iranian territory on February 28, including the capital, Tehran, resulting in widespread destruction and civilian casualties.

In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard continues to launch ballistic missiles and drones targeting several locations in Israel and American interests and bases in the Gulf.

Washington and Tel Aviv justified the start of the military operation as a "preemptive strike" in light of what they described as the "imminent threat" from the Iranian nuclear program. However, officials in both countries no longer conceal their desire for regime change in Tehran as one of the war's objectives.

This came after the Israeli army announced that Iran's weapons production capabilities would be largely destroyed "within a few days."

Israeli army spokesman Efi Defrin said that the army aims, in the coming days, to "complete its attacks on all the main components of the Iranian military industry."

He added, "This means that we will have destroyed most of the military production capabilities," noting that "rebuilding them will take a long time for the regime." Since Israel and the United States launched their offensive against Iran four weeks ago, the Israeli Air Force has been conducting intense airstrikes targeting the infrastructure of Iran's military industries.

According to The Times of Israel, the Israeli military estimates that it has already struck approximately 90 percent of the critical facilities in Iran's arms industry.

Last Friday night, Israeli fighter jets also bombed military production facilities in Iran, including the headquarters of the Marine Industries Organization, which is responsible for developing and building warships and submarines.

Meanwhile, for the fourth time in a matter of hours, Iran launched a new missile attack on the Negev and southern Israel. This follows previous missile attacks on the same region, marking the fourth such attack in recent hours.

The latest Iranian attack coincided with another attack by Hezbollah, as was the case in the earlier attack.

The Israeli Home Front Command announced earlier today that it had detected missile launches toward a wide area, including the Negev, the Arava Valley, the Dead Sea, as well as areas in the southern West Bank and the vicinity of the Gaza Strip.

Sirens subsequently sounded in numerous areas, most notably the city of Beersheba and its surrounding areas in the central Negev, along with southern cities such as Dimona and Yeruham.  

The alerts also included areas surrounding the Gaza Strip, large parts of the Lachish region including Ashdod and Ashkelon, as well as areas in the southern West Bank.

Two hours before the attack, Israeli media reported that missiles launched from Iran toward the Negev had been intercepted. Simultaneously, missiles and drones launched from Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee were also intercepted.

Israeli sources reported detecting missile launches toward the south, with sirens sounding in several areas, while air defense systems worked to intercept the threats.

The attack came about an hour after Iran launched missiles toward the Eilat area in southern Israel.

Sirens sounded in southern Israel, including the city of Eilat and several communities in the Arava Valley, according to local monitoring platforms.