Israel claimed on Wednesday, March 25, that it alone has dropped 15,000 bombs on Iran since February 28, four times more than the 12-day war in June last year. Combined, US-Israeli bombings in Tehran and other parts of the country have caused massive damage to civilians.

The joint US-Israeli strikes, which have continued for 26 days on Wednesday, have killed over 1,500 and wounded nearly 20,000 thousand Iranians.

According to news reports, the US alone has hit over 9,000 targets in Iran, with US-Israeli strikes failing to discriminate between civilian and military targets.

In a news briefing on Wednesday, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said that US-Israeli attacks in Iran have targeted over 85,000 civilian sites, including schools, hospitals, historic monuments and media organizations.

The IRCS had earlier noted that the Iranian civilian sites targeted by the US and Israel include nearly 500 schools and around 300 medical centers.

In one such attack on Tuesday, US-Israeli bombing targeted notable Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s home, with Iran calling it a deliberate attempt to destroy its culture and civilization.

US-Israeli bombings are often reported to be “double tap” strikes, where a second round of attacks follows the first, deliberately targeting rescue missions.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported one such attack in Tehran on Wednesday.

Attacks on civilians, particularly the medical teams and rescue workers is a violation of humanitarian laws and may qualify as war crimes.

Iran has claimed its nuclear power plant at Bushehr was targeted for the second time since the beginning of the war on Tuesday.

Iran called the repeated targeting of nuclear power plants an “alarming escalation” and warned of grave consequences of such hostile acts.

US military surge in West Asia

According to reports, the US is preparing to increase its ground force presence in West Asia, with thousands of additional marines sent to be deployed.

The US already has around 50,000 ground troops stationed in the region throughout various military bases located in the Persian Gulf monarchies and other countries.

The news of the additional deployment of troops has led to fresh speculations of a possible ground invasion in Iran, despite reports and claims of negotiations.

Though Iran has thoroughly and repeatedly rejected such reports of talks with the US, calling them rumors and stunts, Al-Jazeera reported on Wednesday the involvement of Pakistan in the indirect negotiations.

Other news reports talk about the possible involvement of Türkiye and Egypt as well.

However, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, ridiculed the news of negotiations with Iran on Tuesday, claiming the White House is “negotiating with bombs”. He also boasted about the US achieving all its objectives in the war.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, reacted to the news of an increased deployment of US troops in the region, calling it dangerous for the soldiers.

Ghalibaf claimed Iran is “closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments” warning that these soldiers deployed may become “victims of Netanyahu’s delusions.”

Iran seeks greater support

Acknowledging the popular mobilizations across the region and beyond against the war on Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed that “the hearts of the free people are not with the Zionists.”

“Stability in the region is possible only through cooperation and respect for the will of the nations,” he said in a post on X.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Tuesday. He reiterated his country’s position that Iran’s response to US-Israeli aggression is as per its right to defend under international law.

“Iran will defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity until all objectives are achieved and the enemy is made to regret its violent assaults,” Araghchi was reported saying to Wang Yi by Fars News.

The post US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s civilian sites intensify as war reaches one-month mark appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed