Iran Launches 100 Drones at Tel Aviv in Retaliation after Israeli Airstrikes Killed Iran's Top Military Officials and Disrupted Nuclear Program

International Business Times

19 hours ago

Iran launched over 100 drones at Israel on Friday in response to massive airstrikes that killed senior military officers and scientists while crippling its nuclear facilities. The retaliation came after 200 fighter jets carried out a "preemptive strike" on Iran—an operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was intended to stop a "nuclear holocaust."
"In the last few hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, and all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats," Brig. Gen. Effie Deffrin, the IDF spokesman said. Deffrin said it would take several hours for the drones to arrive in Israel, and the IDF is working to shoot them down.
Iran Fires Back
Israel carried out a massive assault on Tehran on Friday morning, deploying over 200 warplanes in the strike. The United States has distanced itself from the operation and issued a warning to Iran not to target American military bases in the region, stressing that it had no role in the attack.
This escalation follows a statement from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who vowed that Israel would face "severe punishment" for the strike.
Khamenei confirmed that several high-ranking military officials and scientists were killed in the attack.
Israel "opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country," Khamenei said.
He added that by targeting residential areas, Israel had exposed "its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers."
"In the enemy's attacks, a number of commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately continue their duties, God willing.
"With this crime, the Zionist regime has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself, and it will certainly face it."
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency cited an unnamed official who said that Iran would deliver a "decisive" response to Israel's assault.
Israel to Continue Attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the strikes would continue "for as many days at it takes to remove this threat" posed by Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu also announced that Operation "Rising Lion" targeted multiple locations across Iran's capital with the objective to destroy its nuclear infrastructure, missile production centers, and military assets.
He described the mission as a targeted move to "roll back" against a threat from Iran that endangers Israel's "very survival."
While the extent of the damage is still unclear, reports suggest that the strike resulted in the deaths of a senior general and several nuclear scientists, as loud explosions echoed throughout Tehran.
"We can't leave these threats for the next generation," he said during an address shared on YouTube.
"Because if we don't act now, there will not be another generation. If we don't act now, we simply won't be here. We have internalized the lessons of history. When an enemy says he intends to destroy you — believe him," Netanyahu continued.
"When the enemy develops the capabilities to destroy you — stop him."
A recent report confirmed that Iran had enriched enough uranium to produce nuclear weapons within days, a source told The New York Post on Thursday night, noting this as the reason behind the strike.
Iranian state media reported that General Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, and Mohammad Bagheri, the country's top military official, were likely killed in the attack, along with two nuclear scientists.
The Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's ballistic missile program, has launched attacks on Israel twice since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023.
Israel also targeted Iran's primary uranium enrichment site in Natanz, where state media showed thick black smoke rising from the facility.