Four people sustained light injuries from shrapnel after air raid sirens warning of missile and rocket fire sounded across central Israel following the launch of an Iranian ballistic missile.
Two people were lightly wounded in the city of Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, and two others were lightly injured near the Einat junction close to Rosh HaAyin.
Shortly before the central Israel alerts, sirens were also activated in northern Israel following another missile launch from Iran.
The IDF said Home Front Command search and rescue forces, working alongside emergency services, were operating at impact sites in central Israel. The circumstances of the strikes were under investigation.
Earlier, the military said that it carried out a strike in Tehran targeting a senior Iranian official affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, the powerful paramilitary's extraterritorial operations unit.
In a statement, the IDF identified the target as Daoud Ali Zadeh, described as commander of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps. There was no immediate confirmation from Iranian authorities on the reported strike or Ali Zadeh’s condition.
Sabereen News, a news agency affiliated with pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, reported that air defense systems were activated in Tehran around the time of the alleged attack.
Meanwhile, Iran International, a news outlet affiliated with Iran’s opposition, cited what it described as informed sources as saying that former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an assassination attempt, is alive and in a secure location. There was no official confirmation of the report.
Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president from 2005 to 2013. During his tenure, he became closely associated with Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran’s confrontational posture toward the West. He repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, made antisemitic remarks and publicly questioned the Holocaust. In one widely criticized appearance at Columbia University in New York during a visit to the United Nations General Assembly, he claimed there were no homosexuals in Iran.
Separately, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom warned that Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant faces risks amid the escalating conflict, according to Russian state news agencies.
Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev was quoted by RIA as saying there is “certainly a threat to the plant,” adding that explosions could be heard just kilometers away, though the facility itself was not being targeted.
Rosatom said Saturday it had evacuated nearly 100 people from Iran, including employees’ children and nonessential staff, while other personnel remained at the Russian-built plant in the port city of Bushehr. Likhachev said the next phase of evacuations involving 150 to 200 additional people would take place when conditions allow, according to comments carried by the Interfax news agency.
First published: 14:45, 03.03.26