• In the past 48 hours, Israel has asked the Trump administration to join its war effort, per Axios
• Israel seeks help targeting & destroying the fortified Fordow uranium enrichment site
• Axios says the Trump administration is so far rejecting the Israeli request
• But if Fordow remains intact, Israel’s mission to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program will be considered a failure
• AJ: At least 80 people – including 20 children – have been killed in Iran and four in Israel, with hundreds wounded on both sides in the ongoing tit-for-tat attacks.

Axios underscores that “Israel lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is built into a mountain and deep underground. The U.S. has both within flying distance of Iran.”

Meanwhile, the images coming out of Iran show unprecedented and shocking scenes of oil refineries burning uncontrollably while nearby highway traffic has been forcibly stopped…

Reports of an Iranian hypersonic missile strike on Haifa earlier:

And this stunningly close and at a good angle video shows major impact in Tel Aviv:

Some regional accounts are speculating this was a hypersonic strike on Tel Aviv:

These missiles are clearly causing significant damage in Israel — an unprecedented first:

* * *

Latest updates (1850ET):

• An unconfirmed Israeli airstrike has targeted Iran’s defense ministry headquarters, causing minor damage.

• The Israeli Air Force reportedly bombed the Shahran oil depot near Tehran, Iranian state media reports.

• Two Israeli citizens have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out security offenses under instructions from Iran.

• Iran struck a two-story home in Tamra, east of Haifa, killing three.

• Jordan has suspended all flight operations in its airspace until further notice

• Several missiles were observed streaking above Jerusalem on Saturday night

• Israel also carried out airstrikes in Yemen Saturday night, aiming to eliminate Abdul Malik al-Houthi, a senior Houthi military leader

Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency, reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the country’s defense ministry headquarters in Tehran on Saturday evening, causing minor damage to one of its buildings

“[A]n attack on Tehran this evening by the air force of the Zionist regime, the headquarters of the defence ministry was targeted. One of the headquarters’ buildings was lightly damaged,” the state news agency reports.

The Iranian government did not comment on the reported strike.

Additionally, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed its missiles and drones targeted fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centers in Israel, according to a statement reported by state media. The IRGC warned that its “offensive operations will continue more fiercely and widely” if Israel’s actions persist.

The IDF has not confirmed the attack.

*  *  *

Several missiles were observed streaking above Jerusalem on Saturday night, a witness told Reuters, as Iran launched another direct assault on Israel.

The IDF confirmed that missiles fired from Iran had been detected, with defense systems actively engaged to intercept them.

“Upon receiving an alert, the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice,” the IDF said in a statement, Reuters reports. The IDF did not comment on possible injuries or damages.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have arrested two citizens suspected of carrying out security offenses under instructions from Iran, officials told the Jerusalem Post. A gag order has been issued on further details, according to Channel 12’s Amit Segal.

* * *

Jordan has suspended all flight operations in its airspace until further notice due to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, the Guardian reported, citing Jordan’s state news agency. Similarly, the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced a temporary closure of Syrian airspace to civilian flights, according to SANA.

* * *

The Israeli Air Force reportedly bombed the Shahran oil depot near Tehran, Iranian state media reports. The IDF said not officially commented on the alleged strike. The purported attack comes after Iranian media said Israel struck on the South Pars field in the southern Bushehr province.

The strikes have disrupted electricity supply in the area, though the full extent of the damage remains unclear. The Israel Defense Forces have not yet commented on the operation.

* * *

Iran confirmed an Israeli airstrike struck the Shahran oil depot but said the situation was “fully under control,” according to SHANA, the news agency of Iran’s oil ministry, Reuters reports. The state media outlet reported that the targeted tank contained a limited fuel volume. No further details on damage or casualties were disclosed.

* * *

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, “Tehran is ablaze” amid reports of the strike on the oil depot.

* * *

Update (1713ET):  ‘Hundreds’ of Iranian missiles were launched at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa – which Iran described as ‘cluster missiles’ in what was the fifth salvo today.

Iran launched shortly after Israeli Air Forces completed “a wave of strikes against military and strategic assets, nuclear program sites and high-ranking figures” according to a Saturday evening statement by the IDF. The latest Iranian launch came after Iranian state TV said ‘heavy and destructive’ attacks against Israel were expected within hours.

Air raid sirens could be heard in Haifa and northern Israel.

It appears that Israel intercepted most of the rockets, though some got through – as footage has been posted on social media of a refinery on fire in Haifa.

“At this hour, Israeli Air Force pilots continue to conduct widespread strikes across various regions in Iran — an ongoing operation lasting nearly 40 hours and targeting over 150 objectives,” said IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, who added that protective measures will remain in effect.

According to the Times of Israel, one of the missiles hit a two-story home in Tamra, east of Haifa, killing one woman and injuring 13 others.

The death toll from the Iranian ballistic missile strike on a two-story home in Tamra, east of Haifa, has climbed to three, first responders told the Times of Israel. A 20-year-old woman was killed when missile directly struck her home, according to authorities. Firefighters extracted four individuals from a four-story building in the area, but two were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Meanwhile in Iran…

Israel also carried out airstrikes in Yemen Saturday night, Israel’s military carried out airstrikes in Yemen on Saturday night, aiming to eliminate Abdul Malik al-Houthi, a senior Houthi military leader, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sources cited by the Jerusalem Post.

The operation’s outcome remains uncertain, with one Israeli official tell the Israeli publication, “We will soon know if it succeeded.”

The IDF has not issued an official statement on the airstrike.

The airstrike in Yemen comes as the IDF continues conducting strikes on targets in Tehran while intercepting a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran, the IDF said.

Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Saturday that there was “no damage seen” at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant or at the Khondab heavy water reactor under construction in Iran. There has also been no further damage at the Natanz nuclear plant since Friday.

*  *  *

Update(1300ET): Israel’s military on Saturday has been busy touting that its warplanes have total air superiority over Western Iran and the capital area, as the Islamic Republic’s defenses have been largely degraded and destroyed. A senior IDF military official has been cited in local media as saying very significant damage has been inflicted on key nuclear sites and that the IDF will “continue”.

“Since the beginning of the operation, Iran’s nuclear project has suffered heavy blows in two main areas: Damage to the production of the weapon core through strikes on uranium enrichment and conversion sites in Natanz and Isfahan [and] damage to the regime’s weaponization group through the elimination of nine nuclear scientists with unique knowledge and experience in developing the nuclear detonation device,” the official said. And further that “all the scientists eliminated in the opening strike had, over the years, been involved in developing the nuclear detonation device.”

The CIA at this moment still assesses that Iran does not produce a bomb, and was likely not actively seeking it. Iran’s latest response is as follows:

“This aggression pushes the region into a dangerous cycle of violence,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says during a call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to a statement from his ministry. “Iran has responded and will respond in a firm manner to the barbaric actions of the Zionist regime.”

Netanyahu is meanwhile maintaining that the has the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump, in a new televised address:

In an English video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iranian leaders are “packing their bags” amid Israel’s airstrikes.

“I’ll tell you what would have come if we hadn’t acted. We had information that this unscrupulous regime was planning to give the nuclear weapons that they would develop to their terrorist proxies. That’s nuclear terrorism on steroids. That would threaten the entire world,” he says.

He adds that the operation has the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu says, wishing the US leader a happy birthday.

“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”

Below are sites the IDF has claimed to have hit:

The latest developments via Al Jazeera:

• Iran and Israel trade missiles and air strikes as the conflict that’s killed dozens escalates with no end in sight.
• At least 80 people – including 20 children – have been killed in Iran and four in Israel, with hundreds wounded on both sides in the ongoing tit-for-tat attacks.
• US President Donald Trump has lauded Israel’s premeditated assault and warned of much worse to come unless Iran quickly accepts the sharp downgrading of its nuclear programme.
• Continuing Iran-US nuclear talks is unjustifiable while “barbarous” Israeli attacks persist on the country, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says.
• The Israeli military says its air strikes on Iran killed more than 20 Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards commanders.
• Israel’s latest attacks on an Iranian gas field takes tensions to a different level

* * *

Overnight has seen the continual trading of tit-for-tat missile salvos between Israel and Iran, with Israeli fighter jets busy over western Iran, where they’ve claimed to have achieved complete domination of the skies after taking out anti-aircraft missile batteries.

Images of large-scale destruction have emerged from both capitals, with Israeli authorities saying at least four citizens have been killed – though casualty figures could be much higher amid an ongoing emergency response – and Iran says Israeli attacks have killed at least 78, including women and children, and wounded over 320 others.

Israel has shared footage of successful aerial attacks on Iran’s ballistic missile launchers in some cases, while the IDF has announced that 70 Israeli Air Force fighter jets participated in the overnight operation in Tehran to establish “aerial freedom of action” over the Iranian capital.

Some 40 sites were targeted, including air defense systems, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin has said. Israeli jets were able to fly over and around the capital for some two-and-half hours.

“The dozens of aircraft are flying freely over Tehran, thanks to the opening blow that removed the threat of Iranian air defense systems,” he declared. Characterizing this as the deepest operation the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has ever been involved in over Iran, he announced:

“Tehran is no longer immune; the capital is exposed to Israeli strikes.”

Israeli jets have yet to strike all of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned that this could continue for several days more. There is serious damage reported at Natanz nuclear site. There have been conflicting reports over whether there is any radiation or chemical contamination at the site.

Some sections of the Isfahan site have been damaged, the IDF has said, while the other key site of Fordo has yet to be targeted.

Important, Israel says that nine nuclear scientists have been killed as a result of Friday aerial operations. Clearly Israel is going for leadership decapitation of military and nuclear programs.

Impact scene from Tel Aviv:

Still, even with Iran’s military capabilities now being steadily degraded, the Islamic Republic has to some degree shown it can regroup and hit back. Israeli media has described a state of panic on the streets, and in some cases residential areas have been demolished:

Israelis on Saturday described the fear, chaos and confusion as several Iranian missiles slammed into houses and apartments in central Israel overnight, causing widespread destruction, killing three people and wounding dozens.

Warning sirens sent millions of people rushing for safe rooms and bomb shelters as Iran fired several waves of missiles in response to Israeli strikes on its military leadership and nuclear program. While the IDF said most were intercepted, several missiles — apparently armed with large explosive warheads — slammed into homes in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Rishon Lezion.

“We shut the door, started watching the news through the computer, and suddenly there was a boom so loud that the whole building teetered,” Tali Horesh, resident of a Tel Aviv high-rise that was hit Friday night, told the Ynet news site.

Meanwhile President Trump has been nowhere to be seen, and certainly hasn’t faced reporters’ questions on where the United States stands in all this.

Is Israel committed to full war for regime change in Iran at this point?

developing…