503 killed in Tehran alone since US-Israeli attacks began, emergency official says

2026-03-16 - 10:32

At least 503 people have been killed and about 5,700 others injured in US-Israeli attacks in the Iranian capital Tehran since late last month, the director of Tehran Province Emergency Services said Monday. Mohammad Esmail Tavakoli told the ISNA News Agency that most of those killed were civilians, including 12 children aged between two months and 12 years, revealing the heavy civilian toll of the ongoing campaign. Conflict context The US and Israel have continued joint attacks on Iran since Feb. 28, killing around 1,300 people according to Iranian authorities, including former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than 150 schoolgirls in a Minab school attack. The campaign has now entered its 17th day, with Israeli forces announcing a new "wide-scale" wave of airstrikes Monday targeting Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz. Civilian casualties Tavakoli's figures focus exclusively on Tehran, suggesting the nationwide death toll may be significantly higher than previously reported. The inclusion of infants as young as two months among the dead underscores the devastating impact on civilian populations as strikes continue to hit residential areas. Iranian retaliation Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries, which it says are targeting "US military assets." Iranian officials report that their air defenses have destroyed over 100 drones since the conflict began, while the country's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains out of public view following injuries sustained in the initial strike.