Video aired on Iranian state television on Thursday 19 March captured Red Crescent teams rescuing an injured man from collapsed buildings in South Khorasan province after a reported US-Israeli strike. According to SNN.ir, bulldozers cleared debris across residential areas while emergency workers combed through the rubble. A provincial spokesman confirmed that the bodies of a young girl and several women were found beneath the structures.

The images followed Wednesday's Israeli airstrike killing intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, part of a high-profile assassination wave including national security chief Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani. Iranian authorities report over 1,300 deaths since late February 2026, when direct US-Iran exchanges began after the sinking of frigate IRIS Dena.

Operations persist across multiple regions, straining emergency services amid infrastructure damage. The strikes coincide with Tehran's missile retaliation on Tel Aviv and mass funerals for senior commanders, deepening the conflict's humanitarian crisis in eastern Iran.