Israel-Iran conflict rages as energy infrastructure targeted

(CN) — With the death toll rising and strikes widening to include energy infrastructure and Iran’s state broadcaster, the conflict between Israel and Iran looked set to intensify in the coming days as both sides hardened their rhetoric.

Monday was the fourth day of fighting after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran last Friday, plunging the Middle East into a worsening spiral of violence.

Over the weekend, Israel and Iran pounded each other with waves of ballistic missiles and drones. The exchange of blows continued into Monday and the death toll continued to rise. At least 224 people have been killed in Iran and 24 people killed in Israel. In Israel, more than 590 people have been wounded and in Iran more than 1,277 people have been hospitalized.

So far, Israel appears to have inflicted the most damage and destruction, but Iran was hitting back hard with some missiles and drones penetrating Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.

After initially targeting Iran's nuclear and military sites and top commanders, Israel has expanded its attacks against civilian infrastructure, leading many experts to conclude that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was intent on a regime change operation to bring down Iran's theocratic government run by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Monday, Western media reported that U.S. President Donald Trump nixed a plan by Netanyahu to kill Khamenei.

In an interview with ABC News, Netanyahu said killing Khamenei would “end the conflict.” 

“It’s not going to escalate the conflict. It’s going to end the conflict,” he said when asked about Israel’s plan to assassinate Khamenei. “We’ve had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that terrorizes everyone in the Middle East.” 

“The ‘forever war’ is what Iran wants, and they’re bringing us to the brink of nuclear war,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, what Israel is doing is preventing this, bringing an end to this aggression, and we can only do so by standing up to the forces of evil.”

Over the weekend, Israel struck a major oil refinery in Tehran and caused damage to South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field. It also hit water treatment facilities, causing sewage to flood the streets in parts of Tehran. Airports, factories and police stations were targeted. On Monday, Israel struck Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, claiming it was a legitimate military target. The bombing left the state broadcaster building burning.The onslaught has led to a huge exodus of cars from Tehran.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu was asked if “regime change” in Iran was his aim.

It “could certainly be the result because the Iranian regime is very weak,” Netanyahu responded.

Iran has shown its military strength and caused considerable damage in Israel. On Sunday, it hit an oil refinery in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and rockets have struck in various parts of Israel, including in central Tel Aviv, near the family home of Netanyahu in Caesarea in northern Israel and at a power station in Khadera.

Meanwhile, the United States was being drawn into the conflict with its fighter jets and air defense systems engaged in shooting down Iranian missiles and drones. The U.S. military has shifted an aircraft carrier from the South China Sea toward the Middle East and the Air Force sent numerous aerial refueling tankers from the United States toward the conflict. The United Kingdom is also involved in defending Israel.

On Saturday, Trump warned that if U.S. bases were “attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”

The rhetoric from both sides signals that the conflict will worsen before the fighting calms.

On Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to punish Iranians for strikes on Tel Aviv that killed at least five people and wounded dozens.

“The boastful dictator from Tehran has turned into a cowardly murderer, deliberately firing at Israel’s civilian home front in an attempt to deter the [Israeli military] from continuing the offensive that is crippling his capabilities,” Katz wrote on social media. “The residents of Tehran will pay the price — and soon.”

He later sought to dispel the notion that Israel would target civilians.

“I wish to clarify the obvious: there is no intention to physically harm the residents of Tehran as the murderous dictator does to the residents of Israel,” Katz wrote on social media. “The residents of Tehran will have to pay the price of dictatorship and evacuate their homes from areas where it will be necessary to attack regime targets and security infrastructures in Tehran.”

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of seeking to expand the war by attacking its energy infrastructure along the Persian Gulf.

“Dragging the conflict into the Persian Gulf is a strategic mistake and its goal is to drag the war outside Iranian territory,” he said. “Any military development in this region can affect the entire world.”

Araghchi blamed the U.S. for allowing Israel to attack Iran, though he said Iran would not strike American targets.

“Over the past two days, we have received messages from the U.S. through various channels claiming that they were not and will not be involved in this attack,” he said. “However, we do not believe this claim, because we have evidence to the contrary."

In a televised address to his nation Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on his country to unite.

“We must be united in the face of this belligerence. It’s our people’s right to seek justice. We will hold our ground,” he said. “Every fallen martyr will be followed by hundreds who will continue the banner.”

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau