Israel and Iran exchange fresh threats and missile strikes amid renewed escalation

Israel's military chief has said the Israel Defense Forces would strike Iran "with force" once ordered, after Iran fired missiles at Israel. At the same time, Iran said its Revolutionary Guards had targeted what it described as the headquarters of "terrorist groups" in Iraqi Kurdistan. The developments mark a fresh escalation in a conflict that has continued despite a fragile ceasefire announced in April.

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Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir made the remarks during a situational assessment, according to the military. He said the IDF would strike the enemy "with force" as soon as the green light was given. The statement came after Iran launched missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire, according to the supplied report.

Iran's state media also said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had targeted sites in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. The Iranian government has accused armed Kurdish parties based in neighbouring Iraq's Kurdistan region of serving Western or Israeli interests and designates them as terrorist organisations. The supplied material says those posts and camps had largely been evacuated, but that Iran has repeatedly struck them since the start of the Middle East war.

The latest reported attack therefore appears to continue a pattern of cross-border pressure on groups Tehran sees as hostile. The exchange matters because it adds to a wider regional conflict that has already drawn in multiple fronts. The report says the Israeli military also intends to press ahead with its campaign in Lebanon and to step up operations against Hezbollah.

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It also notes that Israel had launched attacks that killed two people and wounded 20 in Beirut's suburbs, underlining the broader scale of the confrontation. The diplomatic backdrop is also significant. Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi discussed the latest events on Sunday night with counterparts in Britain, France and Turkey, as well as with Qatar's leader and Pakistani mediators.

Those talks focused on what Iran described as Israel's ceasefire violations, suggesting that regional and international actors are still trying to contain the fallout even as military exchanges continue. What remains unclear is the immediate impact of the missile fire on Israel and whether there were any casualties or damage from the latest round of strikes. It is also not clear how quickly any Israeli response might follow if orders are issued.

The next developments to watch are whether the ceasefire framework from April can hold, whether attacks on Kurdish groups in Iraq continue, and whether diplomatic contacts can slow the escalation.

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