Jerusalem/Tehran: Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, has warned that the joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran is moving into a “next phase”, signalling an escalation in the ongoing conflict across the Middle East.

“We have additional surprises ahead which I do not intend to disclose,” Zamir said in a televised statement, adding that the campaign would “further dismantle the regime and its military capabilities.”

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His remarks came as a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes struck Tehran early Friday. Witnesses described powerful explosions shaking homes across the capital, while additional blasts were reported near the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, an area known to host several missile bases.

Israel’s military said it had begun “a broad-scale wave of strikes” targeting the Iranian capital and claimed that most of Iran’s air defence systems and missile launchers had already been destroyed.

The conflict has expanded across the region after Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks toward Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all of which host U.S. military forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties from those strikes.

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Meanwhile, fighting has intensified in Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes targeted southern suburbs of Beirut amid renewed clashes with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Residents were seen fleeing the area as roads were clogged with vehicles seeking safety.

The United States and Israel have conducted nationwide strikes inside Iran targeting military installations, leadership figures and its nuclear programme. Pete Hegseth warned earlier that the conflict was “about to surge dramatically.”

Early Friday, the US military also said it struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, setting it ablaze. The vessel, identified as the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, is a converted container ship equipped with a 180-metre runway designed for launching drones and capable of travelling up to 22,000 nautical miles without refuelling.

The Iranian military has not immediately acknowledged the attack.

The widening conflict has disrupted oil supplies and global air travel while raising fears of a broader regional war. According to officials, the fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, while six U.S. troops have also been killed.

Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians, and it vowed to retaliate as the war in the Middle East reached into another country.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan and damaged an airport building.

President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out “a groundless act of terror and aggression,” and said his military has been told to prepare and implement retaliatory measures. The Caspian Sea nation halted truck traffic across the nearly 700-kilometre (over 400-mile) border with Iran.

Iran’s general staff of the armed forces denied it had launched a drone toward Azerbaijan's territory. Iran has repeatedly denied targeting oil infrastructure and other civilian targets in the war, despite its drone and missile fire hitting those sites.