'Never again is now': Netanyahu as Israel launches strikes on Iran's nuclear, missile sites
Tel Aviv : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday announced the launch of a large-scale military campaign, Operation Rising Lion, aimed at dismantling what he described as an existential threat posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Netanyahu said Israel had struck multiple high-value Iranian targets in a decisive first strike. "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," he said, adding that the mission would continue "for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
The Israeli leader accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme in defiance of global warnings, pointing to enriched uranium stockpiles capable of producing multiple nuclear bombs. "In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs. Nine," he noted, warning that Tehran had taken "steps to weaponise this enriched uranium" and could develop a nuclear weapon within months.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
3 hours ago
- Observer
Missiles fired at Israel in response to attacks
JERUSALEM/DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded on Friday night 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 biggest ever attacks on Iran, blasting Iran's huge underground nuclear site at Natanz and wiping out its top military commanders. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. Israel said the strikes were the start of "Operation Rising Lion". Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of having started the strikes and initiating a war. US President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme. As evening fell on Friday, 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. Israel's military said it was striking Iranian missile and drone launching sites, and had struck another nuclear site in Isfahan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli campaign was aimed at defeating an existential threat from Iran, invoking the failure to halt the Holocaust in World War Two. Israel's operation "will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," he said in a TV address. "Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future."
Observer
6 hours ago
- Observer
Top Iranian generals killed in Israeli attack
TEHRAN: Israel targeted leading members of Iran's armed forces on Friday during its unprecedented onslaught hitting military and nuclear targets across the country. Here is what we know about the two top figures killed: General Mohammad Bagheri was the highest-ranking officer in the Iranian armed forces and was responsible for overseeing the army, the Revolutionary Guards and Corps; and the country's ballistic missile programme. In office since 2016, Bagheri worked directly under the authority of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — Iran's ultimate decision maker and the commander-in-chief of its armed forces. As second in command, Bagheri held wide-ranging authority over much of Iran's military formations and appeared regularly on television in uniform — including notably at the inauguration of underground military bases. He also played a key role in developing Iran's ballistic missile programme. The arsenal, originally developed to compensate for Iran's weak air force during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, significantly increased its range and precision over the years. Israel has long viewed these capabilities as an existential threat from its sworn enemy and has twice been targeted by massive barrages fired by Iran at its territory. "The Zionist enemy should know that it is nearing the end of its miserable life," Bagheri once declared, while referring to Israel as "a cancerous tumour". Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami was a veteran officer close to supreme leader Khamenei and known for his tirades against Israel and its US ally. "If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you," the white-bearded general warned Tehran's arch foes during a tour of an underground missile base in January. Born in 1960 in central Iran, Salami joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1980 at the start of the war launched by then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He spent most of his career in the Guards, which was set up after the 1979 overthrow of the Western-backed shah to defend the goals of the Islamic revolution. The force is now 125,000-strong grouping, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, although Iran has never released any official figure. Salami rose through the ranks to become head of the Guards' air force division and was placed on Washington's sanctions blacklist. He served as the corps' deputy commander for nine years before being promoted to the top job in 2019 as part of a major reshuffle. Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of Tehran's foreign policy and Salami repeatedly alluded to calls for Israel to be wiped from the map. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should "learn to swim in the Mediterranean Sea" in readiness to flee, he said in a 2018 speech. The Revolutionary Guards played a central role in Iran's forward foreign policy in the Arab world, which saw Tehran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah lead Gaza and Lebanon into war with Israel. — AFP
Times of Oman
10 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Airlines across the Middle East suspend flights
Major airlines cancelled or rerouted flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran, and other Middle Eastern destinations following Israeli strikes on Iran, which prompted widespread regional airspace closures. Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria closed their airspace in response to the strikes. El Al, Israel Airlines, said that it had suspended all its flights to and from Israel for the time being. German airline group Lufthansa suspended all flights to and from Tehran and Tel Aviv until July 31. Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iran. Qatar Airways stated it had "temporarily cancelled flights to Iran and Iraq due to (the) current situation in the region." Turkish Airlines and other Turkish carriers canceled flights to Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan until Monday, according to a statement from Turkey's transport minister. Air France announced it was suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv "until further notice." Russia's aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, instructed Russian airlines not to fly "in the airspace of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Iran."
