Israel bombed Iran’s state broadcaster building in Tehran on Monday evening, after issuing a large and unprecedented evacuation warning for one of the capital’s most central districts.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) live broadcast was interrupted by the strikes, and Sahar Emami, an anchor at the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, was seen hurrying off-camera as the screen behind her cut out.
People on set were heard saying “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for God is great.
The strike came hours after the Israeli military issued a wide warning to central Tehran’s third district, an area home to some 330,000 people.
After the military issued the evacuation warning, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “the Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappearing,” seemingly referencing the imminent strike on the state-run broadcaster.
After the strike, Katz said Israel will “strike the Iranian dictator everywhere,” and that “the Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was struck by the IDF following a wide-scale evacuation of local residents.”
The IDF later confirmed bombing the building, saying it was used by Iran’s armed forces.
“This center was used by the armed forces to advance military operations under civilian cover, using its own means and assets,” it claimed. “The strike was also carried out in a targeted manner to minimize harm to uninvolved [civilians] as much as possible.”
Footage posted to social media showed the building on fire with smoke billowing out in the aftermath of the airstrike.
A person speaking in the video appeared to have been wounded in the strike, with blood visible on their hands.
Shortly after the strike, IRIB resumed its live programming.
Emami, the channel’s news anchor, said “bodies of reporters” were at the site of the initial broadcast, and images showed smoke and flames in the sky. The station later said that the building was hit by four bombs.
“The Zionist regime, the enemy of the Iranian nation, minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network,” part of IRIB, said a senior official at the broadcasting service, Hassan Abedini.
“The regime [Israel] was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation,” he added.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the strike “a wicked act” and a “war crime,” and said that “The UNSC must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also condemned the attack, calling it “inhuman, criminal and a terrorist act.”
Later Monday, the Israeli Air Force bombed a truck ferrying weapons on a highway between Tehran and Qom, the military said, attaching footage of the strike.
According to the IDF, the truck was carrying a surface-to-air missile launcher. A few minutes after it was identified, it was struck, the military said.
The IDF also published footage of strikes on other Iranian trucks with weapons earlier Monday, as well as footage of a drone striking and destroying two Iranian F-14 fighter jets at an airport in Tehran.
The US-made F-14 Tomcats were supplied to Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and are believed to be the last ones still in operation.
Additionally, the IDF aired footage of a strike on Iranian soldiers who were preparing to launch drones at Israel. Another video showed a strike on containers where drones were stored.
Years of hostility between Israel and Iran exploded into open conflict early Friday morning when Israel launched a major offensive against Iran, hitting nuclear sites, missile bases, top military officials and senior nuclear scientists.
Israel said it had no choice but to attack Iran, and that it had gathered intelligence showing Tehran was approaching “the point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Military officials said that the Israel Defense Forces was prepared for heavy fire from Iran, but asserted that “at the end of the operation, there will be no nuclear threat” from the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s state media claimed Sunday that the death toll from Israel’s attacks since Friday had climbed to 224, of whom 90 percent are allegedly civilians.
Iran has launched some 350 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, the vast majority of which were intercepted, according to IDF statistics released Monday.
In all, 24 people have been killed in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, and hundreds more have been wounded.