Israel launched a wave of air strikes across Iran on Friday, blasting Iran’s huge underground nuclear site, wiping out its top echelon of military commanders and killing nuclear scientists in the biggest direct attack between the two countries.
Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday night as sirens sounded across Israel following what the country’s military spokesman said was the firing of missiles from Iran. Iran’s state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in retaliation for Israel’s strikes.
As evening fell, Iranian media reported explosions on the northern and southern outskirts of Tehran and at Fordow, near the holy city of Qom, a second nuclear site which had been spared in the first wave of attacks. Air defences were activated across Tehran and explosions could be heard in Isfahan.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said earlier that his country’s strikes were the start of “Operation Rising Lion”, a targeted military operation to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”. Israel’s operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat”, he said.
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“Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future.”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel had “unleashed its wicked and bloody” hand, and would suffer “a bitter fate”.
US president Donald Trump said it was not too late for Iran to halt the Israeli attacks by reaching a deal to curb its nuclear programme.
In a phone interview with Reuters, Mr Trump said it was not clear if Iran’s nuclear programme had survived.
He said nuclear talks between Tehran and the US, scheduled for Sunday, remain on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place.
“I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” Mr Trump said.
Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a move reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon’s once-feared Hizbullah militia last year.
Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, major general Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guard chief, Hossein Salami.
Major general Mohammad Pakpour, swiftly promoted to replace Mr Salami as guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the supreme leader read out on state television: “The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime.”
[ Stocks tumble as Israel’s strikes on Iran fuel rush to safe havensOpens in new window ]
Iranian media showed images of destroyed apartment blocks, and said nearly 80 civilians were killed in attacks that targeted nuclear scientists in their beds and wounded more than 300 people.
Iran’s ability to retaliate with weapons fired by its regional proxies has been degraded over the past year, with the downfall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the decimation of Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel said Iran had launched about 100 drones towards Israeli territory in retaliation on Friday, but Iran denied this and there were no reports of any drones reaching Israeli targets.
The United Nations Security Council was due to meet on Friday at Tehran’s request. Iran said in a letter to the council that it would respond decisively and proportionally to Israel’s “unlawful” and “cowardly” acts.
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An Israeli security source said commandos from Israel’s spy agency Mossad had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack, and it had mounted a series of covert operations with the military against Iran’s strategic missile array.
Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added.
Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent is clear of damage to the underground nuclear site at Natanz, where Iran has refined uranium to levels western countries have long said are suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Mr Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran had rejected the last US offer. – Reuters
