Israel expands war against Iran to target symbols of its power, including a notorious prison

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel on Monday expanded its war against Iran to include targets associated with the country's struggling theocracy, striking the gate of a Tehran prison notorious for holding political activists and hitting the headquarters of the military force that suppressed recent protests.

Meanwhile, Qatar, home to a major base for U.S. forces and a major regional airline, temporarily closed its airspace amid threats of Iranian retaliation, the Foreign Ministry said. The closure came several hours after the U.S. and United Kingdom urged their citizens in Qatar to shelter in place.

As plumes of thick smoke rose over Tehran, Israel was attacked with yet another barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. The persistent fire has become a reality for civilians in both countries since Israel started the war to target Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

On the 11th day of the conflict, Israel said it attacked “regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran,” but Israeli officials insisted they did not seek the overthrow of Iran's government, their archenemy since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Israeli military warned Iranians that it would continue to attack military sites around Tehran over “the coming days” as its focuses has shifted to symbolic targets as well. The military issued the warning on the social platform X, though Iranians are struggling to access the outside world as an internet shutdown has crippled the country.

The latest strikes unfolded only hours after President Donald Trump openly raised the possibility himself after just a day earlier inserting America into the war with its unprecedented stealth-bomber strike on three Iranian nuclear sites.

“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” he asked on his Truth Social website.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later described Trump as “simply raising a question.” However, suggestions of overthrowing the Iranian government drew new anger from Tehran, which insists it will not negotiate at this time and is threatening to retaliate directly against either American troops or interests in a Mideast already inflamed by the still-raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Tehran strikes open new chapter of war

In the Tehran strikes, Israel blew open a gate at Evin prison. Iranian state television shared black-and-white surveillance footage of the strike at the facility known for holding dual nationals and Westerners often used by Iran as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.

Evin also has specialized units for political prisoners run by the paramilitary, all-volunteer Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The facility is the target of both U.S. and European Union sanctions.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Iran or significant damage, though the semiofficial Tasnim news agency said there had been a power cut reported outside of Tehran following the Israeli strikes.

Iranian state television also aired footage it described as being shot inside Evin, with prisoners under control inside the facility. However, the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran expressed worry about the condition of prisoners there.

“Many families of current detainees have expressed deep concern about the safety and condition of their loved ones held inside the prison,” it said.

Earlier Monday, Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned Washington that its strikes had given Iranian forces a “free hand “ to “act against U.S. interests and its army.”

Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East, many in locations within range of short-range Iranian missiles.

The Israeli military also confirmed it struck roads around Iran’s Fordo enrichment facility to obstruct access to the site. The underground site was one of those hit in Sunday’s attack by the United States on three nuclear facilities. The Israeli military did not elaborate.

“The Iranian dictator will be punished with full force for attacking the Israeli home front,” Israel's Defense Ministry said.

According to an Israeli official familiar with the government’s strategy, Israel is targeting these sites to put pressure on the Iranian administration but is not actively seeking to topple it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations.

Nuclear fears mount after US strikes

In Vienna, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said he expected there to be heavy damage at the Fordo facility following Sunday's U.S. airstrike there with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.

With the strikes Sunday on , the United States inserted itself into , prompting fears of a wider regional conflict. Iran said the U.S. had crossed “a very big red line” with its to strike the three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound .

Several Iranian officials, including Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, have claimed Iran removed nuclear material from targeted sites ahead of time.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the agency's board of governors Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed him on June 13 that Iran would “adopt special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials.”

“I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared,” Grossi said, without saying whether Iran had responded.

Iran presses on attacking Israel

Iran described its Monday attack on Israel as a new wave of its “Operation True Promise 3,” saying it was targeting the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state television.

Explosions were also heard in Jerusalem, possibly from air defense systems in action, and Israel's Magen David Adom emergency rescue service said there had been no reports of injuries.

In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.

The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Masha Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel.

Calls for de-escalation

The U.S. described its attack on the , as a one-off to take out Iran's nuclear program, but Trump has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates.

Mousavi described the American attacks as violating Iran’s sovereignty and being tantamount to invading the country, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Russia is one of Iran’s closest allies and on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said after meeting in Moscow with Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, that they had explored “how we can get out of today’s situation.”

Putin called the Israeli and American attacks on Iran an “absolutely unprovoked aggression.”

Elsewhere, calls continued for de-escalation and the return to diplomacy to try and resolve the conflict.

Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief.

But after Trump pulled the U.S. during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% — and restricting access to its nuclear facilities.

In Brussels, the European Union's top diplomat said the bloc remained “very much focused on the diplomatic solution.”

“The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge,” Kaja Kallas said at the start of a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, where Iran has jumped to the top of the agenda.

“Especially closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is something that would be extremely dangerous and not good for anybody,” Kallas said, referring to a maritime route crucial for oil transport.

After Sunday's attacks, Iranian officials repeated their longtime threats of possibly closing the key shipping lane.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Elise Morton in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Ella Joyner in Brussels and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.