Soldiers and scientists the faces of the dead in aftermath of Israel's strike on Iran
Days before Iran was due to enter more talks over its nuclear program, Israel spurned diplomacy for lethal air strikes against its most powerful nemesis.
Friday dawned with dozens of Israeli jets dropping bombs from the sky over the capital Tehran and elsewhere across Iran.
Israel characterised the bombings as an urgent strike to head off an existential threat from a regime just months away from producing nuclear weapons — the ultimate big stick in modern statecraft.
That would make Iran the second nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East after Israel itself, which was thought by the CIA to have the bomb more than half a century ago.
The Israeli government launched the strikes having lost some diplomatic cover over its siege on Gaza, with allies including Australia imposing sanctions on two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet over calls for violence against Palestinians.
But Iran this week thumbed its nose at "serious concerns" of the UN nuclear watchdog, vowing to ramp-up production of "near-weapons-grade uranium".
Israel, flying solo without its key ally the US, was ready to make good on its threat to avenge direct attacks from Iran including a barrage of ballistic missiles last October.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was both a "pre-emptive, precise, combined offensive … on Iran's nuclear program" and a "response to the Iranian regime's ongoing aggression against Israel".
Targets included the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran, a nuclear enrichment site at Natanz to the south, and two military bases and a nuclear research centre in Tabriz to the north-west.
Iranian television also showed attacks on a residential complex in uptown Tehran, and in Kermanshah province to the west near the Iraqi border.
Israeli bombs killed civilians including children, according to Iranian state media.
But the faces of the dead known so far — those who have been named — are top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Mohammad Bagheri was chief of staff of the armed forces of Iran.
He oversaw a military machine with less than half of Israel's budget but more than three times the active personnel, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Bagheri was sanctioned by the UK in 2022 for supplying Russia with drones in its war on Ukraine.
The US and Canada sanctioned him a month earlier over the harsh crackdowns on protests in Iran after the death in custody of a woman accused of breaking dress standards.
Hossein Salami was commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
A one-time mechanical engineering student and veteran of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, Salami took over the role in 2019 weeks after the Trump administration in the US designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation.
Salami reportedly said he and the IRGC were proud to be branded as such by Washington.
Major General Gholam Ali Rashid was commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which coordinates joint Iranian military operations.
He was sanctioned by the US, UK, Canada and others in April last year for his role in Iran's first direct attack on Israel in the form of missiles and drones, in coordination with Houthi forces in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and militias in Iraq.
Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani was a nuclear physicist and reported longtime member of the Revolutionary Guard who once ran the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
He was sanctioned by the UN Security Council in 2007 for his role in developing nuclear weapon delivery systems, and later by countries including Australia.
He survived an assassination attempt driving to work in 2010 when a man on a motorbike attached a bomb to the window of his car — an attack Tehran blamed on Israeli intelligence.
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi was a theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University.
According to a US government-funded NGO, Iran Watch, Tehranchi once supervised an Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons which included explosive testing, and continued to work for the regime.
He was involved in a charity overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to whom he delivered a speech on nuclear and science policy in 2018.
Tehranchi was sanctioned by the US in 2020 with heightened export licence requirements over national security concerns because of his involvement in nuclear proliferation activities.
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The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Trump desperately wants to play ‘peacemaker'. This is the time to prove he can
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News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Israel targets Iran's military capabilities
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The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Australian diplomats in Middle East safe, accounted for
Australian embassy staff in Tehran and Tel Aviv are safe and accounted for amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, Richard Marles says. Australians in the region should seek shelter in place, monitor the Smartraveller website and, if necessary, contact consular authorities, the deputy prime minister said. "We are able to report that our embassy staff in both Tehran and Tel Aviv are all accounted for and are safe," he told reporters in Geelong on Saturday. "There are a small number of Australian Defence Force personnel within the region. They, too, have all been accounted for and are safe but we will continue to monitor their ongoing safety." Iran and Israel are targeting each other with missiles and air strikes after the latter launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it developing a nuclear weapon. Australia was deeply concerned about the unfolding hostilities and specifically about the risks of escalation, Mr Marles said. 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"We want to see these issues resolved through dialogue and the United States have been playing an important role there," he said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said on Saturday the targeting of population centres by Iran was "deeply troubling". "The Iranian regime's ability to acquire nuclear weapons poses a serious and direct threat to world peace and stability, especially as it continues to engage in terrorism by supporting its proxies: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen," she said in a statement. "Whilst we continue to urge caution, Israel has a right to defend itself. "Israel is exercising its sovereign right to defend its people and ensure the security of future generations. The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iran." US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned there was a "chance of massive conflict" involving Iran as Washington began pulling diplomats out of the Middle East. Senior lecturer in international relations at Flinders University Jessica Genauer said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to attack Iran was likely driven by domestic concerns. "Netanyahu faces political dissatisfaction with his handling of the Hamas-Israel war," she said. "Recent suggestions that Trump is turning away from a close friendship with Netanyahu is further eroding Netanyahu's popularity. "By attacking Iran, Netanyahu hopes to reinforce the fear of an external threat to Israel - and support for his government as competent and tough on security." Australian embassy staff in Tehran and Tel Aviv are safe and accounted for amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, Richard Marles says. Australians in the region should seek shelter in place, monitor the Smartraveller website and, if necessary, contact consular authorities, the deputy prime minister said. "We are able to report that our embassy staff in both Tehran and Tel Aviv are all accounted for and are safe," he told reporters in Geelong on Saturday. "There are a small number of Australian Defence Force personnel within the region. They, too, have all been accounted for and are safe but we will continue to monitor their ongoing safety." Iran and Israel are targeting each other with missiles and air strikes after the latter launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it developing a nuclear weapon. Australia was deeply concerned about the unfolding hostilities and specifically about the risks of escalation, Mr Marles said. "We well understand the threat that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program represents. "That program is a threat to international peace and security but because of this, we are calling on all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy." The government was expressly calling on Iran to exercise restraint so as not to risk broader conflict, he said. Israel hit dozens of sites on Friday as tensions soared after a United Nations agency found Iran was not complying with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said from Fiji on Friday he was conscious of the threat posed if Iran became a nuclear state. "We want to see these issues resolved through dialogue and the United States have been playing an important role there," he said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said on Saturday the targeting of population centres by Iran was "deeply troubling". "The Iranian regime's ability to acquire nuclear weapons poses a serious and direct threat to world peace and stability, especially as it continues to engage in terrorism by supporting its proxies: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen," she said in a statement. "Whilst we continue to urge caution, Israel has a right to defend itself. "Israel is exercising its sovereign right to defend its people and ensure the security of future generations. The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iran." US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned there was a "chance of massive conflict" involving Iran as Washington began pulling diplomats out of the Middle East. Senior lecturer in international relations at Flinders University Jessica Genauer said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to attack Iran was likely driven by domestic concerns. "Netanyahu faces political dissatisfaction with his handling of the Hamas-Israel war," she said. "Recent suggestions that Trump is turning away from a close friendship with Netanyahu is further eroding Netanyahu's popularity. "By attacking Iran, Netanyahu hopes to reinforce the fear of an external threat to Israel - and support for his government as competent and tough on security." 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"We well understand the threat that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program represents. "That program is a threat to international peace and security but because of this, we are calling on all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy." The government was expressly calling on Iran to exercise restraint so as not to risk broader conflict, he said. Israel hit dozens of sites on Friday as tensions soared after a United Nations agency found Iran was not complying with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said from Fiji on Friday he was conscious of the threat posed if Iran became a nuclear state. "We want to see these issues resolved through dialogue and the United States have been playing an important role there," he said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said on Saturday the targeting of population centres by Iran was "deeply troubling". "The Iranian regime's ability to acquire nuclear weapons poses a serious and direct threat to world peace and stability, especially as it continues to engage in terrorism by supporting its proxies: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen," she said in a statement. "Whilst we continue to urge caution, Israel has a right to defend itself. "Israel is exercising its sovereign right to defend its people and ensure the security of future generations. The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iran." US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned there was a "chance of massive conflict" involving Iran as Washington began pulling diplomats out of the Middle East. Senior lecturer in international relations at Flinders University Jessica Genauer said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to attack Iran was likely driven by domestic concerns. "Netanyahu faces political dissatisfaction with his handling of the Hamas-Israel war," she said. "Recent suggestions that Trump is turning away from a close friendship with Netanyahu is further eroding Netanyahu's popularity. "By attacking Iran, Netanyahu hopes to reinforce the fear of an external threat to Israel - and support for his government as competent and tough on security."
