Israel has launched dozens of air strikes against Iran targeting its nuclear programme, military facilities and killing its top two commanders in a devastating large-scale attack that could push the Middle East into a new war.
Images on Iranian state television said the Natanz site in central Iran, one of the country’s two main nuclear plants, was struck around 4.15am and showed thick black smoke rising from the area.
After massive explosions rocked Tehran at about 3.30am local time on Friday, state television also showed smoke rising from the main command headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the regime’s most powerful military force, in eastern Tehran.
Several Iran Military Leaders Killed
Iran’s state news agency said several senior military figures including Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed.
Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed, state television reported. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent physics professor, and Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s atomic organisation, were also killed, the state news agency said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, saying it targeted Natanz, the republic’s “leading nuclear scientist” and its ballistic missile plants.
An Israeli military official said dozens of strikes were launched. Another official said the attacks could last for as long as two weeks.
The Israeli Defense Forces also said it had carried out a large-scale strike against Iran’s air defences, destroying dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers.
The IDF added that Iran had launched approximately 100 drones towards Israel, which Israel was working to intercept. Iran did not confirm it had launched any retaliation.
The attack comes ahead of a sixth round of negotiations on Sunday between the Trump administration and Iran in an effort to resolve the nuclear crisis.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel “should expect a severe punishment”.
“The Zionist regime, through this crime, has created a bitter and painful fate for itself — one it will certainly face,” he said. “With God’s permission, the powerful hands of the Islamic republic’s armed forces will not leave it unpunished.”
Iranian officials said they held the US responsible for the assault. Earlier this week Tehran reiterated warnings that the republic could also target American bases across the region if it was attacked.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US was “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-defence,” Rubio added. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
The strike follows a months-long stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme, as Tehran has for several years been enriching uranium close to weapons grade.
Both Israel and the US have vowed to prevent the republic developing nuclear weapons even as Iran insists its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes, but it has the capacity to produce sufficient fissile material required for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks.
