Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Tehran has been pockmarked by window-shaking explosions ever since Israel and the US launched their assault on Iran on February 28, with government buildings, military and intelligence sites, residential areas and civilian infrastructure struck as the campaign has escalated.
Israel and the US have hit thousands of sites across Iran and Tehran, the capital city of some 10mn people, has undergone waves of attacks. “Bombs will be dropping everywhere,” US President Donald Trump said at the start of the war.
Reports by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based NGO, said that one-third of strikes on Iran on Thursday struck in and around Tehran, while more than half of reported attacks did so on Monday.
Tehran has been increasingly locked down, with checkpoints appearing at crossroads as the conflict escalates and the Islamic republic seeks to maintain its hold on power.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Government
Among the most important targets that Israel and the US have struck as they seek to destabilise the Iranian regime and undermine its ability to manage the conflict are critical government and administrative buildings around Tehran.
It quickly became clear that Israel was seeking to decapitate the senior political leadership in Tehran on February 28, when it struck a compound in central Tehran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials. There have since been repeated raids, with as many as 50 fighter jets at a time, in the days that have followed.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Pasteur Street, a heavily guarded avenue in central Tehran where key government buildings are clustered, has been struck repeatedly. Israel said on Tuesday that it had struck offices used by Khamenei, as well as by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
But Israel and the US, which have encouraged Iranians to “take over” the government, have also gone after the symbolic seats of authority in Tehran.
This includes Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court, one of a number of special courts which are tasked with handling cases earmarked as being “counter-revolutionary”, which was struck and destroyed on Sunday.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
There was also extensive damage reported to a complex that hosts the Iranian Supreme Court, along with other judicial and prosecutorial buildings near central 15 Khordad Square. Several buildings, seen over satellite imagery, had been flattened while a high-rise block was also struck.
Israel also said on Tuesday that it had destroyed the headquarters of Iranian state-broadcaster IRIB on Valiasr Avenue, a tree-lined thoroughfare that bisects Tehran.
Security
Tehran also hosts critical military command-and-control institutions and intelligence facilities, whose destruction may prove crucial to Israeli and US efforts to shatter Iranian forces’ combat effectiveness.
Israel said on Tuesday that it had struck the Supreme National Security Council, a body tasked with managing and deliberating on urgent national security threats.
It is chaired by Ali Larijani, a conservative politician who was close to Khamenei, and is seen as having taken a key role in brutally repressing mass protests in January.
The headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was also struck. Washington, which released videos showing explosions at the site, said it struck the nerve centre of the elite force on Sunday. Images showed it has taken heavy damage, with several buildings flattened.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Military facilities in Tehran were also struck. Imagery showed multiple damaged buildings.
Several dozen Revolutionary Guard command centres appear to have been hit on Saturday and Sunday, along with Iran’s domestic intelligence directorate.
Israel and the US appear to have taken steps to degrade the domestic internal security and intelligence apparatus across Tehran, with more than a dozen police stations struck across the capital.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Civilian sites struck
Civilian infrastructure and residential areas were also hit. That has prompted many among the ordinary population to try to leave, while checkpoints have appeared at several crossroads.
The Azadi sports complex, a large indoor area, was damaged on Thursday in a strike. Videos filmed by Iranians showed heavy damage to the stands of the 12,000 capacity ground and a smoke plume billowing into the air. Israel said the stadium was being used as a mustering point for Iranian forces.
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Damage to the Azidi Stadium Complex in Tehran
By March 3, the Iranian Red Crescent said at least 1,230 people had been killed across Iran. It said several medical facilities in Tehran had been damaged.
The Gandhi hospital, a major facility in north Tehran, suffered significant damage on March 1 following an air strike on a communications tower and a building nearby.
Other hospitals near the police headquarters were reported to have been damaged on Sunday.
The Israeli and American air strikes have upended life for many in Tehran as the destruction spreads.
The Golestan Palace, the former royal citadel of the Iranian Shahs, was damaged by debris and shockwaves from a nearby strike on Monday.
But there is no sign that Tehran, whose air defences have been largely eliminated, will be given any respite.
Israel on Friday announced a fresh wave of strikes on Tehran targeting the regime’s “infrastructure”, while Israeli officials said this week that they were preparing for a multi-week conflict — with one warning that “there is a lot of work to be done”.
Leave a Reply