Star Metro - Khamenei vows Iran will never surrender, hypersonic missiles target Israel

The barrage came hours after Israel said it had destroyed Iran's internal security headquarters in Tehran, and as it reported a new wave of attacks targeting missile systems and storage sites in the country's west.

Khamenei also warned the United States against becoming involved in the conflict, after US President Donald Trump appeared to flirt with the idea in recent days, calling for Tehran's "unconditional surrender".

"This nation will never surrender," Khamenei said in a televised address, in which he called Trump's ultimatum "unacceptable".

"America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage."

Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state in Iran, had earlier vowed the country would show "no mercy" towards Israel's leaders.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier that air force jets had destroyed Iran's internal security headquarters, as AFP journalists in Tehran reported powerful explosions across the city.

He called the internal security facility "the main arm of repression of the Iranian dictator".

Meanwhile, a London-based internet watchdog said Iran was in the midst of a "near-total national internet blackout" on Wednesday after days of disruptions.

Iran later announced heavier internet restrictions due to "the aggressor's abuse of the country's communication network for military purposes", according to the Fars news agency. It first imposed internet curbs at the outset of Israel's campaign last week.

- 'Unconditional surrender' -

Trump has fuelled speculation about US intervention, saying Wednesday that his patience had "run out" with Iran, but that it was still not too late for talks.

"I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump told reporters when asked if he had decided whether to launch US strikes.

He also said Iran had reached out to suggest sending officials to the White House for talks on Tehran's nuclear programme in a bid to end Israel's air assault.

"I said it's very late to be talking. We may meet," he added.

A day earlier Trump had boasted that the United States could assassinate Khamenei, but would not do so, "at least not for now".

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned against any "additional military interventions" in the Middle East, saying they could have "enormous consequences" for the region and beyond.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, thanked Trump for his "support in defending Israel's skies" on Wednesday, calling him a "great friend" of Israel.

- 'Painful losses' -

"We are striking the ayatollahs' regime with tremendous power," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

"We are hitting their nuclear programme, their missiles, their military headquarters, the symbols of their power," he added, acknowledging Israel had also suffered "painful losses".

Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu's office.

Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.

Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran denies.

Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.

Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and some Iranians have reported shortages in recent days.

Finding fuel has become a problem, with long queues of cars waiting hours in front of petrol stations, a 40-year-old Iranian driver told AFP at the Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh.

"There are shortages of rice, bread, sugar and tea," he said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

"People are shocked and distraught, they don't know what they should do," said a car dealer in the Iranian city of Bukan who also asked not to be identified by his real name.

- Centrifuges hit -

Earlier, Israeli strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

In another strike on a site in Tehran, "one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested", the agency added.

Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles, his office said.

Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries since the conflict began.

But some Israelis stranded abroad since last week decided to return home on special flights.

"I decided to come back because the family is here, and I belong here, and unfortunately we get used to these fights and war, but we prefer to be here, to support as much as we can," said Yaakov Bogen, a 66-year-old hotelier.

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L.Girard--SMC