Israel has launched ‘preemptive strikes’ against Iran that targeted their nuclear program and killed top military officials in an effort to prevent Tehran from developing a weapon of mass destruction.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address that the attacks will continue ‘for as many days at it takes to remove this threat’ of Iran’s nuclear program.
‘Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime. Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal.’
Netanyahu said that Israel targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials.
He alleged that Iran was working on a new plan to destroy Israel after its old plan, its circle of proxies, failed. He called that an intolerable threat that must be stopped.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quotes an anonymous official saying Iran will offer a ‘decisive’ response to Israel’s attack.
People in Iran’s capital, Tehran, heard another round of explosions Friday morning hours after the initial attack. It wasn’t immediately clear if it was air defense systems going off or another attack.
The New York Times reported at least a half dozen military bases around Tehran residential homes used by military personnel were among the targets.
An Israeli defense official said the strikes likely killed members of Iran’s general staff, including the chief of staff and several senior nuclear scientists.
The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was killed in the strikes, Iranian state television reported.
It added that one other top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead. The report offered few other details.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centers within the country’s theocracy. It also controls Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was preparing for a response by the Iranians after the strike.
‘Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,’ Katz said in a statement.
Iranian state media outlet IRNA said repeated explosions could be heard in Tehran.
The attack set the headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Tehran ablaze, state television reported Friday. A reporter on air said he was unable to get closer due to the intensity of the fire.
Multiple sites in the capital have been hit in the attack, although the extent of strikes remains unclear.
Israel’s defense minister has announced a ‘special situation’ in his country and said schools would stay shut on Friday.
The country’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has warned Iran and its regional proxies against retaliating against Israel.
‘I warn, anyone who tries to challenge us will pay a heavy price,’ he says.
Emmanuel Fabian, military correspondent for Times of Israel, wrote on X: ‘The IDF confirms it has launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s nuclear program. Dozens of targets across Iran related to the nuclear program and other military facilities are being struck by the Israeli Air Force, it says.
‘The operation is dubbed ‘Strength of a Lion.’ The IDF says Iran has enough enriched uranium to build several bombs within days, and it needs to act against this ‘imminent threat.’
Sirens were heard across Israel as a warning to be on the lookout for any possible response from Tehran.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport was evacuated as all flights were canceled.
The strikes come after it was yesterday revealed that Israel was planning an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites within days after a UN watchdog said Tehran has breached its non-proliferation obligations.
Sources in the US revealed the possibility of an imminent attack, which a senior source in the Israeli prime minister’s office did not confirm or deny.
But they did tell the Mail: ‘President Trump said it best, ‘Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon…’ We agree. This is a global threat.’
The US announced it would evacuate personnel from the region amid concerns they could be targeted by Iran in reprisals.
But a United States official told CNN that there was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes carried out by Israel in Iran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a statement that American forces are not involved and warned Iran against coming after the United States.
‘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,’ he said.
‘Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,’ Rubio added.
Donald Trump has yet to issue a statement on the strikes.
Earlier this evening, he posted to Truth Social: ‘We remain 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,’ he added.
Israel’s strikes come days before a sixth round of talks were planned between Iran and the US over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program this Sunday in Oman.
Trump’s new administration has been seeking a deal that would halt Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Israel’s National Security Cabinet had met throughout the night leading up to the attack in Iran, according to an Israeli official.
Israel has closed its airspace until further notice, according to the country’s ministry of transportation.
The New York Times reported an Iranian source saying Tehran has an immediate counter-attack plan in place if Israel strikes.
The response is set to be of a similar scope to the attack it launched in October last year, when Iran fired more than 200 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel to overload air-defense systems, sending the entire population into bomb shelters.
Most missiles were shot down or intercepted, causing limited damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
Iran failed to provide the watchdog with credible explanations as to how uranium was detected at undeclared sites, despite the agency having investigated the matter for years.
Nineteen of the 35 countries on the board of the IAEA voted for the motion to declare the breach.
The motion was submitted by the ‘Quad’ of nations – the US, UK, France and Germany – who said ‘states will be held to account if they do not live up to their obligations’
Iran says the decision was ‘political’ and said they would respond by setting up a new uranium enrichment facility.
It follows a report from the IAEA last week which criticised Iran’s ‘general lack of co-operation’ and said it had enough enriched uranium to potentially make ten nuclear bombs.
US and Iranian officials will hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran’s accelerating uranium enrichment program in Oman on Sunday.
But Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday’s resolution ‘proves that Israel was right all along’.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump said he feared Tehran would not agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
‘They seem to be delaying. I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them,’ he said.
Netanyahu has long been a strident critic of Iran and has accused Tehran of secretly attempting to acquire nuclear weapons, something they deny.
‘One way or the other, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,’ he said in April.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak and former chief of the Mossad national intelligence agency Tamir Pardo claimed Netanyahu sought to bomb Iran in 2010 and 2011, but he was opposed by senior Israeli officials.