At least 128 people have been killed and nearly 900 others injured in a wave of Israeli airstrikes across Iran, according to figures released by Iranian state media quoting the country’s health ministry.
The updated toll, as of midday Friday, reflects the escalating human cost of what has become one of the most intense military confrontations between Israel and Iran in recent history.
The BBC, citing limitations on access and reporting from within Iran, has not independently verified the numbers.
State-run IRIB TV reported that a devastating strike on a residential building in Tehran left 60 people dead, including 20 children, marking one of the single deadliest incidents since hostilities began.
Further casualties have been reported across various provinces. In East Azerbaijan, provincial governorate sources confirmed that 31 people had died, including 30 military personnel and a member of the Iranian Red Crescent.
The humanitarian toll has also extended to emergency services. The Iranian Red Crescent said two aid workers were killed when an Israeli missile struck an ambulance in West Azerbaijan province.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, in a briefing on Saturday, disclosed that “at least 30 women and children have been killed over the past three days,” although she did not provide a comprehensive death toll.
Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations said earlier in the week that 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded at that time, suggesting a sharp rise in casualties in the subsequent 48 hours.
Military losses have also been significant. Senior Iranian defence officials confirmed that at least 18 members of the elite Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had been killed in the strikes. Among the dead is the commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, whose name has not yet been officially released.
In a particularly targeted series of attacks, at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists have reportedly been killed. Iranian authorities believe the strikes were aimed at decapitating the country’s strategic weapons and research capabilities.
As Iran continues to tally the mounting losses, the government has vowed retaliation and urged the international community to condemn what it calls “aggression against its sovereignty.”
