TEHRAN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran activated air defense systems in multiple cities on Saturday amid escalating tensions with Israel, with state media warning a "devastating" Iranian response was expected within hours.
State-run broadcaster IRIB reported air defenses were engaged in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to repel drone attacks. The port, Iran's largest and strategically significant, lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit route. Air defense systems were also activated earlier in the day in the city of Bushehr, home to a nuclear facility, and later in the capital Tehran.
Iranian state television said "heavy and destructive" strikes against Israel would be launched soon, providing no further details.
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said Israeli forces attacked a major underground missile facility in the western city of Khorramabad, Lorestan province. Defrin described the site as previously undisclosed by Iran, storing surface-to-surface and cruise missiles and including "multiple launch shafts." He added that senior officials associated with the facility had been eliminated and that dozens of similar sites had been destroyed.
Iran has not commented on Defrin's claim.
In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, Israel launched a series of coordinated airstrikes targeting strategic locations across the country, including in the capital, Tehran. Iranian state media has confirmed the deaths of several high-ranking military commanders and prominent nuclear scientists in these attacks.
In response to the Israeli offensive, Iran has launched barrages of ballistic missiles at military targets inside Israel since Friday night, further intensifying the conflict. ■
