Israel was exploiting its advantage, saying it had taken out dozens of surface-to-air missiles in western Iran and killed the intelligence chief of the Islamic Revoluti

Hezbollah has long been considered Iran’s first line of defense in case of a war with Israel.

Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings in the heart of the country.

By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Marrow (Reuters) -Russian leader Vladimir Putin told Iran's president over the phone on Friday that Moscow condemned Israeli actions against Tehran, and in a separate telephone conversation told Israel's prime minister that only diplomacy could resolve issues around Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran has confirmed that the head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit, Mohammad Kazemi, has been killed.

At least 224 people have been killed since Israel began striking Iran on Friday, Iranian state media reported, with civilians making up more than 90% of the casualties.