Tehran hit by heavy bombing on day seven of US-Israel war on Iran 

Intense air strikes have pounded Tehran and other Iranian cities on the seventh day of the US-Israeli war on the country, amid warnings from the United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that the bombardment was “about to surge dramatically.”

Israel’s military said Friday morning it had begun a new “broad-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran, while the US said its B-2 bombers had dropped dozens of “penetrator” bombs on deeply buried ballistic missile launchers inside the country.

Massive explosions hit several locations in the Iranian capital, Tehran, overnight, including residential areas and the vicinity of Tehran University, according to news reports and an Al Jazeera team on the ground.

An Iranian military academy was also struck, while a journalist from Iran’s state broadcaster was reporting live near the site.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said the bombardment in the capital had been more intense than previously seen, with many strikes in the east and southeast of Tehran.

“From the very early hours of today and into the morning we have been witnessing a continued wave of massive strikes,” he said, adding the shockwaves of the blast could be felt in the bureau of Al Jazeera.

“I can say that compared to previous days, we saw heavier bombardment overnight, at least in the capital,” he said, reporting massive explosions and fighter jets in the skies, and a huge column of thick smoke rising from an air strike.

He said the targets reportedly included military locations but also civilian sites including residential buildings, parking buildings and gas stations.

Buried missile launchers bombed: US

Explosions were also reported around the Iranian city of Kermanshah, in an area home to multiple missile bases, as well as in Shiraz and Isfahan.

The Israeli military said strikes have already destroyed most of Iran’s air defences and missile launchers.

Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that early Friday, US B-2 stealth bombers dropped dozens of 2,000 pound “penetrator” bombs on deeply buried ballistic missile launchers inside Iran.

“We’ve also struck Iran’s equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans,” Cooper said.

Speaking alongside Cooper, Hegseth described an upcoming surge in the bombardment.

“It’s more fighter squadrons, it’s more capabilities, it’s more defensive capabilities,” Hegseth said. “And it’s more bomber pulses more frequently.”

US ‘likely responsible’ for school attack: Report

At least 1,230 people have been killed in the strikes on Iran since Saturday, Iranian state media has reported. UNICEF said on Friday that at least 181 children were among the dead in Iran.

Among the young victims were at least 175 children killed when a girls’ school in Minab, in southern Iran, was hit on the first day of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, according to the IRGC.

Amid scrutiny over the incident, Hegseth on Wednesday acknowledged the US military was investigating the incident.

Reuters reported, citing two US officials, that US military investigators believed it was likely that US forces were responsible for the apparent strike, but have not yet reached a final conclusion.

Deliberately attacking a school would be a war crime, and if a US role were to be confirmed, the strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of US wars in the Middle East.