Iran’s supreme leader has praised the country’s recent missile strike on Israel and said it is ready to do it again if necessary

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran's recent missile attack on Israel was "legal and legitimate" and was the minimum punishment for Israel's "crimes." Khamenei told a huge crowd during Friday prayer sermons that Iran will not "procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty" in confronting Israel,

The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders early Friday for 35 settlements in southern Lebanon telling residents to leave immediately and head north of the Awali River for their own safety.

Israel carried out huge bombing raids overnight near Beirut airport aimed at Hezbollah commanders and facilities, as the US and its allies warned of “uncontrollable escalation” in the Middle East.

Tension have spiked in the Middle East after Iran's missile attack on Israel this week. Fears rose that Israel's military intends to retaliate "significantly" and swiftly after Iran fired almost 200 missiles at Israel,

Iran has rarely looked more on the back foot after weeks of Israeli attacks that degraded its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas. And Tehran’s barrage of some 200 missiles fired at Israel on Tuesday was judged “ineffective” by the US.

Israel has not given assurances to the Biden administration that targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities is off the table in retaliation for the Iranian ballistic missile strikes earlier this week, a top State Department official told CNN on Friday.