Israel announces completion of “large-scale strike” on ‘dozens’ of sites in Iran, targeting nuclear programme
Israel claimed it took unilateral action because Tehran had begun to build nuclear warheads
Israeli fighter jets have completed a “large-scale strike” on aerial defense arrays in western Iran, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has said.
This follows a sustained shelling at “dozens” of targets including its nuclear facilities, military commanders and scientists by Tel Aviv against Tehran.
Israel claimed it took unilateral action because Tehran had begun to build nuclear warheads.
“As part of the strikes, dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers were destroyed,” the IDF said.
The IDF earlier said 200 fighter jets had been used in its unprecedented attacks on Iran.
As Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, threatened “severe punishment” against Israel, the Israeli military said today morning that Iran had launched 100 drones aimed at Israel and that the country’s defences were focused on intercepted them.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israeli attack, which it is calling Rising Lion, was aimed at “rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”, adding that it would take “many days”.
Israel’s strikes on Iran show US President Donald Trump is unable to restrain Netanyahu as Middle East slips closer to chaos.
Iran’s Arab neighboursled by Saudi Arabia have condemned Israel’s recent strikes as concerns over regional escalation soar and the threat of a full-blown Third World War.
Iranian state media said the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, the Army Chief of Staff, Major Gen Mohammad Bagheri, and the commander of the Khatam al-Anbia joint forces headquarters, Maj General Gholamali Rashid, had been killed in the strikes, as well as six nuclear scientists, including Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013.
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme,” Netanyahu said in a recorded televised address.
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponisation programme. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.” Later, in comments that suggest the operation could be long and difficult, Netanyahu said: “Israeli citizens may have to remain in sheltered areas for lengthy periods of time,” he added.
Abbasi survived an assassination attempt in 2010 that was part of a wave of targeted killings reportedly masterminded by the Mossad.
Tehranchi was a theoretical physicist.
They appear to have been targeted in their homes. Iranian state television reported that children had been killed in at least one of the airstrikes, on a residential area of Tehran.
Later on today, Iraq said more than 100 Iranian drones had crossed its airspace, and a short time later neighbouring Jordan said its air force and defence systems had intercepted several missiles and drones that had entered its airspace for fear they would fall in its territory.
Donald Trump insisted that he had not been taken by surprise by the strike though he had previously warned Israel not to attack while the US was negotiating with Iran.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table,” the US president told Fox News. “We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back.”
Multiple Arab countries have issued statements of condemnation against Israel’s strikes on the Islamic Republic, a clear indication of their intent to avoid becoming targets amid the current escalation.
Saudi Arabia expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation” of Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and senior military leaders.
“While the Kingdom condemns these heinous attacks, it affirms that the international community and the (UN) Security Council bear a great responsibility to halt this aggression,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have shared a rivalry for decades as two regional powerhouses divided on religious lines. They have significantly improved their relations recently.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.”
Qatar, which has been accused by Israeli officials of supporting Hamas, called Israel’s attack “a blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security.”
The largest United States military base in the Middle East is located in Qatar, while the UAE hosts thousands of American troops near the capital Abu Dhabi, making these countries targets if Iran chose to retaliate against Israel’s biggest ally, the US.
Oman, which is mediating talks between Washington and Tehran condemned Israel’s attack, saying it was “reckless” and executed at an “extremely sensitive time” for the nuclear negotiations.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who is striving to establish sovereignty by decreasing the influence Iran has established for decades over his country, said he “strongly” condemned the “dangerous Israeli aggression,” he said.
“It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and Iranian sovereignty, and its repercussions threaten the stability of the entire region and even world peace.”
