Israel's overnight strike on Iran in maps and images
Israel has hit Iran with its biggest wave of air strikes in years, targeting the country's nuclear programme, and is promising to continue its attacks.
Senior military figures and nuclear scientists were killed in the overnight strikes and there are unconfirmed reports that civilians, including children, were also among the victims. In response, Iran launched about 100 drones towards Israel, most of which were intercepted, according to the Israeli military.
Israel said it had launched a another wave of strikes on Friday evening, with reports of more explosions in Iran, but the scale of that attack and the damage caused is not yet clear.
Video analysed by the BBC shows multiple strikes overnight in the capital Tehran as well near three reported military sites and Iran's main nuclear facility in Natanz.
Israel's military said it had struck "dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran".
It later released a map of the sites it said it had hit which included nuclear facilities, missile facilities and radar defences, as well as scientists and military commanders.
Explosions were first reported in Tehran at about 03:30 local time (01:00 BST), with Iranian state TV saying residential areas were among those hit.
Blasts were heard in the north-east of the capital and explosions reported at the airport, according to analysis by the US-based Institute for the Study of War.
The BBC has confirmed one of the locations as the site where Iranian media reported that former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Fereydoon Abbasi and nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed. Iran has confirmed that at least six of its nuclear scientists were killed.
Iranian state media showed footage of fires burning in buildings and plumes of smoke rising from the city's skyline.
Key Iranian commanders have also been killed, including the chief of staff of the armed forces, and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Among the other sites hit is Iran's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, in the centre of the country. Iranian state TV said it was struck several times, with pictures showing black smoke billowing from the site.
Israel's military said the strikes had caused significant damage.
The facility, about 225km (140 miles) south of Tehran, has enrichment plants above and below ground.
Uranium can be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants, research reactors or weapons depending on the level of enrichment.
The Institute for Science and International Security said satellite images show damage and destruction to several buildings around the complex, including the pilot fuel enrichment plant, which holds centrifuges and research facilities, as well as the on site electrical substation that provides power to the facility.
The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said it was informed by Iranian authorities that there has been no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz plant.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. It has several facilities around Iran, at least some of which have been targeted in the Israeli strikes.
But many countries - as well as the IAEA - are not convinced Iran's programme is for civilian purposes alone. It has nuclear facilities spread across much of the country.
The strikes come as US talks over Iran's nuclear programme, which began in April, appear to have stalled in recent days. The next round of talks was scheduled for Sunday.
US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to "make a deal" on its nuclear programme, "before there is nothing left". Other world leaders have called for restraint on both sides.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi said nuclear facilities "must never be attacked" and such strikes have "serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security".
In a statement to board members, he called "on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation", saying "any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond".
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Boston Globe
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- Boston Globe
Iran retaliates after Israeli strikes targeting its nuclear program and military
Iran retaliated by launching drones and later firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, to head to shelter for hours. Strikes could derail nuclear talks Advertisement Israel's strikes also put further talks between the United States and Iran over an atomic accord into doubt days before the two sides were set to meet Sunday in Oman. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman called further nuclear talks with the United States 'meaningless' after Israeli strikes on the country, state television said. 'The U.S. did a job that made the talks become meaningless,' Baghaei was quoted as saying. He added that Israel had passed all Iran's red lines by committing a 'criminal act' through its strikes. However, he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The Mizan news agency, which is run by Iran's judiciary, quoted him as saying: 'It is still not clear what we decide about Sunday's talks.' Advertisement Israeli security forces inspect destroyed houses that were struck by a missile fired from Iran, in Rishon Lezion, Israel on June 14. Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated Press Iranian missiles strike Israel Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. Iranians awoke Saturday morning to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they were injured when a projectile hit a building in the city. A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital said one woman was killed. Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two more people and injuring 19, according to Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged. Meanwhile, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday. An Associated Press journalist could hear air raid sirens near their home. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, with a video Israel's paramedic services said 34 people were wounded in the barrage on the Tel Aviv area, including a woman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an AP journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. Advertisement U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Strikes raise fears of all-out war Israel's ongoing airstrikes and intelligence operation and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides. Israel had long threatened such a strike, and successive American administrations sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran's dispersed and hardened nuclear program. But a confluence of developments triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — plus the reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump — created the conditions that allowed Israel to finally follow through on its threats. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.S. was informed in advance of the attack. On Thursday, Iran was censured by the U.N.'s atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. The crossfire between Israel and Iran disrupted East-West travel through the Mideast, a key global aviation route, but Jordan's state-run Petra news agent said the country would reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, signaling the Mideast kingdom believes there is no immediate danger of further attacks. Paramedics evacuate a woman from a site that was struck by a missile fired from Iran, in Rishon Lezion, Israel, on June 14. Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated Press Above-ground section of Natanz facility destroyed Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. It also appeared to strike a second, smaller nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby. Advertisement Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. He said all the electrical infrastructure and emergency power generators were destroyed, as well as a section of the facility where uranium was enriched up to 60%, which is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making. In a video statement sent to journalists Friday, he said he ordered plans for the attack last November, soon after the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of Iran's strongest proxies. Netanyahu said the attack was planned for April but was postponed. Israel's Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defenses and missile launchers near Tehran, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not possible to independently corroborate the officials' claims. Over the past year, Israel has been targeting Iran's air defenses, hitting a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery in April 2024 and surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October. Advertisement The first wave of strikes gave Israel 'significant freedom of movement' in Iran's skies, clearing the way for further attacks, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack with the media. The official said Israel is prepared for an operation that could last up to two weeks, but that there was no firm timeline. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.' 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,' he wrote. Lidman and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporter Natalie Melzer contributed from Nahariya, Israel and Nasser Karimi from Tehran.
