Israel:"Iran's Centrifuge Strike Will Bring Down Dictatorship"

Iran: "Launched hypersonic missile Fatah-1, shot down Israeli drone and F-35"

Tehran citizens flee under Trump pressure… "Iran death toll nears 600"

(Istanbul/Seoul=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Dong-ho, Reporter Im Ji-woo = As soon as US President Donald Trump called for 'unconditional surrender' from Iran, Israel continued large-scale airstrikes on the Iranian capital Tehran and other areas for the sixth day on the 18th (local time).

Iran also did not lower its offensive level, recently announcing that it had used hypersonic missiles in its attack on Israel.

According to foreign news agencies such as AP and AFP, large and small explosions rang out in the early morning hours of the day before dawn in the Iranian capital of Tehran, and at around 5 a.m., a huge explosion was heard throughout the city.

Israel had earlier warned that it could strike areas south of Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport that contain residential and military facilities and pharmaceutical companies.

"More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets have carried out airstrikes on Tehran over the past few hours," the Israeli military said, adding that the strikes targeted a centrifuge production facility in Tehran as part of a broader effort to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.

He added that the strikes also targeted facilities producing raw materials and components used in the production of Iran's surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after the strikes that “a tornado is passing through Tehran,” adding that “this is how a dictatorship falls.” He added that “regime symbols, including broadcasting stations and other targets, are being bombed and destroyed, and many residents are being forced to flee.”

Hours before the bombing, President Trump called on Iran to “unconditionally surrender,” even threatening to kill Iran’s supreme leader.

President Trump, who returned home abruptly after cutting short his schedule for the G7 summit by a day, is reported to have held a security meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss whether the United States should intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict.

Iran claimed its air defenses were preventing Israeli attacks.

"The nuclear facility is in good condition," said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in an interview with Iran's SNN news agency reported on the same day."The morale of the nuclear facility staff is very high, and they are carrying out their work with firm determination."

The state-run IRIB broadcaster released footage showing that an advanced Israeli Hermes 900 drone was shot down in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, where the Natanz nuclear facility is located. The Israeli military confirmed that the drone was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed in Iran, but stressed that there was no risk of information leaks.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported that an Israeli F-35 fighter jet was shot down in the Baramin area near the capital Tehran. Iran claims to have shot down five F-35s since the start of the conflict on the 13th. The Fars news agency reported that statements from the Israeli fighter pilots will be broadcast.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced today that it had used the hypersonic missile Fatah-1 in recent attacks on Israel.

In a statement carried by state TV on the same day, the IRGC said,"We have carried out the 11th strike of the proud 'Promise of Truth III' operation using Fatah-1 missiles," and also claimed,"Iranian forces have complete control over the airspace over the occupied territory (Israel)."

The Fatah-1 is a hypersonic missile developed by Iran and was first unveiled in 2023. According to specifications released by the IRGC at the time, it can reach a maximum speed of Mach 13-15 during the mid-flight phase and has a maximum range of 1,400 km. It is said to maintain a speed of Mach 5 or higher during the final reentry phase and can change orbit even outside the atmosphere.

Iran claimed to have first used the Fatah-1 in a major airstrike on Israeli soil in October last year.

Some military experts are skeptical about whether the missile can maneuver at hypersonic speeds within the atmosphere, which is usually considered a requirement for a hypersonic missile, even if it can reach speeds of Mach 13 or faster during some phases of flight, according to CNN.

The AP reported that the line of refugees trying to leave Tehran is getting longer and longer, even as President Trump issued strong warnings. The city appeared to be empty, with most of the shops downtown closed.

Roads leading out of downtown Tehran were clogged with cars fleeing the city, and long lines formed at gas stations. “It looks like no one lives in this city,” one Tehran resident told The Associated Press.

The death toll in Iran from Israeli airstrikes, now in their sixth day, is also rising.

The U.S.-based human rights group Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) estimated that at least 585 people have been killed and 1,326 injured across Iran as a result of Israeli attacks so far. It added that 239 of the dead were civilians and 126 were identified as security personnel.

Iranian authorities have not immediately released a casualty count from the clashes. The last official count, released on the 16th, put the death toll at 224 and the wounded at 1,277.

The Israeli government said that as of that day, 24 people, including civilians, had been killed and over 804 injured in Iranian attacks in Israel. It also added that around 400 ballistic missiles had been launched from Iran since the 13th.