Trump tells Iran to do deal now after Israel blasts nuclear, military targets
At around 8am, an order to Israeli citizens to remain near protected areas had been lifted, suggesting that most or all of the drones had been intercepted.
In a televised message, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Iranians to stand by their leaders and said a powerful response "will make Israel regret its foolish act". The price of crude leapt around 8% on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region. But the national Iranian oil company said refining and storage facilities had not been damaged and continued to operate.
Iran's Nournews said 78 people had been killed and 329 injured in Israeli attacks on residential areas in Tehran.
An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran's strategic missile array.
Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had bombarded Iran's air defences, destroying "dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers". Iran said several top commanders and six nuclear scientists had been killed, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami.
In all, at least 20 senior commanders were killed, two regional sources said. The head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was also reported to be among them.
Iran's Fars news agency, citing a security source, denied Israeli reports that Tehran had launched drones towards Israel. IRANIAN NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT PLANT REPORTEDLY DAMAGED
Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz suffered significant damage, Israeli military spokesman Brig-Gen Effie Defrin said. Briefing journalists online, Defrin said 200 Israeli fighter jets took part in the strikes, hitting more than 100 targets, with others to work through, and that the operation might be lengthy.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, invoked the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust to justify his decision to attack Iran, framing the strikes as a decisive step to protect Israel from a future existential threat. His office said he would speak to Trump later in the day.
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