Escalating tensions: Trump vows to intensify bombing while Iran vows no surrender

Smoke rises from the site of airstrikes in a central area of the Iranian capital Tehran on March 6. President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the bombing of Iran on Saturday as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that he would never surrender, despite a fresh blitz of US and Israeli air strikes that set a Tehran airport ablaze. Israel confirmed some of the biggest raids since the aerial bombardment of Iran began last Saturday, with a military academy, an underground command centre and a missile storage facility named as targets.

Pre-dawn AFP photos showed fire and smoke billowing from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, one of two that serve the capital. “Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.” Iranian President Pezeshkian struck a defiant tone in a speech broadcast on state TV in which he appeared to address Trump’s demand on Friday for “unconditional surrender”. Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” Pezeshkian replied.

Iran also hit back on Saturday, demonstrating that it retains the ability to launch missiles and drones despite the relentless targeting of its military infrastructure over the last seven days. There were air raid alerts and explosions heard above Jerusalem as well as Gulf cities Dubai, Manama and near Riyadh — where Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired at an air base housing US military personnel. The UAE said it had intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones on Saturday, but video footage showed one projectile crashing into Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic in usual circumstances. An explosion took place next to an airport building and parked planes close to a passing train, mobile phone footage authenticated by AFP showed.