Elsewhere in the city, residents described windows shattering and buildings shaking with each impact as the strikes continued until dawn.

Previous air strikes over the last week or so had closed in on the city centre, starting on air defence units and spreading to state TV newsrooms, government buildings and even the notorious Evin prison, where dissidents silenced by the regime are locked up.

It remains unclear how many people were killed in the latest strikes. The war has gone largely under-reported inside Iran thanks to censorship and the regime’s tight control on the media.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency based in the United States, Israeli strikes had killed at least 387 civilians but that was before Monday night’s attacks.

“Banking systems, transportation, communications, and healthcare services have been disrupted,” it reported.

“Citizens are facing shortages of goods, long queues, rationing, and widespread anxiety.”

Despite the bombings, and some calls for regime change, the clerics who lead Iran have faced limited dissent. There has been some evidence that citizens have rallied around the flag to a degree.

Pro-regime supporters have also come out on the streets to celebrate Iranian attacks on a US military base in Qatar and Israel, although it remains unclear whether the gatherings were encouraged or supported by the regime.