Tehran (AFP) - Israel unleashed a punishing barrage of strikes across Iran Sunday, hitting targets from the west to Tehran and as far east as Mashhad, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to make the country pay a “heavy price” for killing civilians.

With no let-up in sight, Iran said it would begin opening mosques, metro stations and schools to serve as makeshift bomb shelters for civilians, as Israel kept up its withering blows.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, the latest conflict marked the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the entire Middle East.

As Israel targeted sites across the Islamic republic Sunday, Iran responded with barrages of missiles, with residents told to seek shelter as booms were heard over Jerusalem, and aerial defence systems reportedly activated in Tehran.

Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the hostilities broke out two days ago, with Netanyahu on Sunday slamming Iran for allegedly targeting civilians.

“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” he said during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.

The remarks came hours after Iranian missile fire targeting Israel killed at least 10 people overnight, according to authorities, pushing the death toll up to 13 since Iran began its retaliatory strikes Friday, with 380 reported injured.

Iranian state television, meanwhile, reported at least five people killed Sunday by an Israeli strike that hit a residential building in downtown Iran, adding the toll could rise as the strike was in a densely populated area.

Local media citing Iran’s health ministry had reported at least 128 people killed in Israeli attacks from Friday to Saturday, including women and children, with 900 more injured.

On Sunday, Israel’s military said its air force hit Mashhad airport in Iran’s far east, making it the longest-range strike of the conflict, with the target “approximately 2,300 kilometres (1,430 miles) from Israel”.

Netanyahu also strongly suggested to Fox News that Israel had killed Iran’s intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi, saying it had recently “got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran” as its jets carried out raids over the capital.

- ‘Make a deal’ -

A heavy cloud of smoke hung above Tehran after Israeli aircraft struck two fuel depots. Local media also reported an Israeli strike on the police headquarters in the city centre.

The Israeli military said its air force had hit “more than 80” targets in the capital overnight.

Long lines snaked around gas stations as most businesses remained closed, while the head of Tehran’s traffic police told the IRNA news agency that “heavy traffic was reported at the capital’s exit points”.

Some residents, however, were determined to stay put.

“It is natural that war has its own stress, but I will not leave my city,” Shokouh Razzazi, 31, told AFP.

US President Donald Trump said Washington “had nothing to do” with Israel’s bombing campaign, which was launched early Friday and has hit key military and nuclear sites.

But Trump also threatened to unleash “the full strength and might” of the US military if Iran attacked American interests, later urging the two foes to “make a deal”.

Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi nonetheless said Tehran had “solid proof” that US forces had supported Israel in its attacks.

Israeli police said six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of an overnight missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

First responders wearing helmets and headlamps picked through the bombed-out building as dawn broke.

“There was an explosion and I thought the whole house had collapsed,” said Bat Yam resident Shahar Ben Zion.

“It was a miracle we survived.”

In northern Israel, rescuers and medics said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women.

- ‘Red line’ -

Early Sunday, a series of blasts rattled Tehran.

Israel said its forces had struck the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran, where Iranian news agency Tasnim reported damage.

The Israeli military also said it had struck nuclear sites, including the secretive Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), fuel tankers and other targets.

Iranian media later said that police had arrested two suspects over alleged links to Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

Israel, in turn, said it had taken two individuals into custody over alleged links to Iranian intelligence.

On Sunday, the Israeli military warned Iranians to evacuate areas near weapons facilities nationwide.

“The Zionist regime crossed a new red line in international law” by “attacking nuclear facilities”, Araghchi told foreign diplomats, according to state TV.

“If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop,” he added.

Iran scrapped nuclear talks with the US planned for Sunday, saying it was “meaningless” to negotiate while under fire.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they had struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling.

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