Israel launched a sweeping military operation against Iran on Friday, with strikes targeting its nuclear program and long-range missile capabilities, Israeli Army Radio reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech posted on YouTube that his forces struck the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program.”
Netanyahu described the attacks as a “targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”
“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” he said in a speech that his office posted to YouTube.
“Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal. Tonight, Israel backs those words with action.”
Netanyahu said Israel targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz as well as its “leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb” and Iran’s ballistic missile program.
… Kills top Iranian military, nuclear scientists
Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported that the Israeli strikes killed top Iranian military officials, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Gen. Hossein Salami.
Gen. Gholam-Ali Rashid and two nuclear scientists, Mohammad Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi, were also killed during the airstrikes, according to media reports.
Abbasi, a former lawmaker, previously survived an assassination attempt in 2010.
Mostly women and children among 50 injured in Israeli attack: Report
Iran’s Tasnim news agency is reporting that at least 50 people injured in the Israeli attack have been transferred to the Chamran Hospital in the northern Tehran district of Tajrish.
According to Tasnim, 35 of those who were injured were women and children.
Key targets of Israeli attacks
The Israeli strikes began around 3:00 a.m. local time (2330 GMT) and targeted both military and nuclear facilities, as well as residential areas, according to reports from Iranian media.
Among the locations hit in Tehran were upscale northern neighborhoods such as Qeytariyeh, Niavaran, Nobonyad, Mahallati, Kamraniyeh, Saadatabad, and Andarzgoo. Other areas struck included Mehrabad, Narmak, Sattarkhan, Farahzadi, and additional districts across the capital.
Outside Tehran, the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran’s central Isfahan province was also targeted. Videos circulating online showed flames and plumes of smoke rising near the facility, while the International Atomic Energy Agency has also confirmed that the “Natanz site (was) among targets.”
The Parchin military complex, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Tehran, was also reportedly hit, along with several other military bases in the capital.
Media reports further indicated strikes on military installations in Mazandaran province in the north.
Explosions were also reported in several other cities, including Qom, Khorramabad, Hamedan, Tabriz, Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Arak, according to local sources.
Iran suspended all flights at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, Iranian state media reported.
US denies involvement, says Tel-Aviv took unilateral decision
Right after Netanyahu’s announcement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his country was not involved in the strikes against Iran.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.
“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” Rubio said in a statement.
Rubio said US President Donald Trump has taken “all necessary steps” to protect American forces and remains in close contact with regional partners.
“Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” he added.
Amid rising tensions, Trump said Thursday that the US remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.
“My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he said on his Truth Social platform.
– Iran vows ‘severe punishment’
In response to the attacks, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a strongly worded statement, condemning the aggression and vowing severe retaliation.
“The Zionist regime has committed a crime in our dear country today at dawn with its satanic, bloodstained hands. It has revealed its malicious nature even more than before by targeting residential areas,” he said.
“That [Zionist] regime should anticipate a severe punishment. By God’s grace, the powerful arm of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces won’t let them go unpunished.”
The statement confirmed that several Iranian military commanders and scientists have been killed in the attacks, while emphasizing that their successors will immediately continue their missions.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see,” said Khamenei.
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