Iran fires missiles at Israel in response to attacks
Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes at Israel on Friday night, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the country's two biggest cities, following Israel's biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy.
Air raid sirens sounded across Israel as authorities urged the public to take shelter. Missiles were seen over Tel Aviv's skyline, with the military saying Iran had fired two salvos.
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The U.S. military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel, two U.S. officials said on Friday.
In the Tel Aviv area, Israel's ambulance service said five people were treated for shrapnel injuries. Live footage of Tel Aviv showed what appeared to be a missile hitting an urban area. A critically injured woman was admitted to Beilinson Hospital in nearby Petah Tikva, a hospital spokesperson said.
The unprecedented Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent Iranian retaliation raised concerns about a broader regional conflagration, although Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel.
Iran's state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel blasted Iran's huge Natanz underground nuclear site and killed its top military commanders. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles and most were intercepted or fell short.
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of having initiated a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful.
Israel's operation "will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV address.
Netanyahu, who for decades has raised the alarm about Iran's nuclear programme, said he authorised the air assault in an effort to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Israel and its Western allies have said this is Tehran's objective but Iran has denied it.
In a video issued by his office, Netanyahu appealed to the Iranian people to stand up against their leaders. "I am with you, the Israeli people are with you," he said.
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"Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future."
Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The U.N. nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.
Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran had rejected the last U.S. offer.
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Attacks on Iran
Iranian media showed images of destroyed apartment blocks in Iran, and said nearly 80 civilians were killed in attacks that targeted nuclear scientists in their beds and wounded more than 300 people.
Israel's military said it was striking Iranian missile and drone launching sites, and had struck another nuclear site in Isfahan.
An Israeli military spokesperson denied Iranian media reports that an Israeli fighter jet was downed with a pilot detained.
In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump said nuclear talks between Tehran and the United States, scheduled for Sunday, were still on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place.
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"We knew everything," Trump said of the Israeli attack plans.
"I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out," Trump said. "They can still work out a deal, however, it's not too late."
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said military action by itself would not destroy Iran's nuclear programme, but could "create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States" to get rid of it.
Decapitation
Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a stunning decapitation reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon's once-feared Hezbollah militia last year. Iran also said six of its top nuclear scientists had been killed.
Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, swiftly promoted to replace Salami as Guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the Supreme Leader read on state television: "The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime."
Iranians described an atmosphere of fear and anger, with some people rushing to change money and others seeking a way out of the country to safety.
"People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic. We were all terrified," said Marziyeh, 39, who was awakened by a blast in Natanz.
While some Iranians quietly hoped the attack would lead to changes in Iran's hardline clerical leadership, others vowed to rally behind the authorities.
"I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear programme. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks," said Ali, a member of the pro-government Basij militia in Qom.
Iran's ability to retaliate with weapons fired by its regional proxies has been sharply degraded over the past year, with the downfall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel said a missile fired from Yemen - whose Houthi militia are Iran-aligned - had landed in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent said three Palestinian children were wounded by shrapnel there.
'Cowardly'
Israel said that Iran launched around 100 drones towards Israeli territory earlier on Friday, but Iran denied this and there were no reports of drones reaching Israeli targets.
The United Nations Security Council was due to meet on Friday at Tehran's request. Iran said in a letter to the council that it would respond decisively and proportionally to Israel's "unlawful" and "cowardly" acts.
The price of crude leaped on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region, although there were no reports that oil production or storage was damaged. OPEC said the escalation did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply.
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".
Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage to the underground nuclear site at Natanz is clear. Western countries have long said Iran refined uranium there to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use.
Later 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 that was spared in the first wave of attacks.
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Telegraph
34 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Iran tried to fire 1,000 missiles at Israel but could only muster 100
As Israeli missiles rained down across the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, reportedly summoned his national security council for an emergency meeting. There was only item on the agenda: how strongly would – or could – the Islamic regime respond? Iran's military planning was already in disarray. Israel had killed its four most senior general in the meticulously executed opening salvoes of its campaign. Many of the country's first-line air defences and missile bases lay in smouldering ruins. The supreme leader was cautious. He wanted revenge, certainly, but warned that acting hastily could misfire. Others cautioned against provoking a wider war that might draw in the United States, especially now that Iran's ability to defend itself had been severely compromised. Doing too little risked the perception of meek capitulation. An order was given to launch a barrage of up to 1,000 ballistic missiles in a massive show of force intended to prove that Iran was far from a spent force. But in the end, Iran only managed to launch 100 missiles as Israeli strikes had disrupted efforts to move missiles from storage to launchpads quickly. There is no question that Iran's opening barrage brought destruction. Israel's multi-layered air defences, backed by US firepower, intercepted many missiles in the skies above Israel's cities – but not all. At least three people were killed and 21 more injured, according to Israel's emergency services. Iran's used half as many ballistic missiles as it launched last October in retaliation for the assassination Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, and Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon. But writing Iran off would be premature. Its long-range missile bases have reportedly been destroyed, but by no means all. It may be conserving ammunition in anticipation of a drawn-out campaign. Even with smaller salvos, it can clearly inflict significant casualties. Analysts suggested Iran's primary targets appear not to be Israel military sites but civilian population centres. Tehran has spent years preparing for an Israeli assault, but it is fighting from a far weaker position than it would have liked. Its 'long arm' – the far-flung network of proxy groups meant to encircle Israel in a 'ring of fire' – may not have been amputated but it has been fractured in multiple places. Hezbollah, once the most potent weapon in Iran's deterrence arsenal, has been so badly crippled that it cannot respond – and most likely does not wish to. Its surviving leaders are still seething over what they see as Iran's failure to aid them beyond October's missile strikes, widely viewed within the movement as performative. The fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the main conduit for Iranian weapons, has also severely hampered Hezbollah's efforts to rearm. Hamas, largely leaderless and fighting for its survival, is incapable of inflicting meaningful damage. Even a renewed Houthi campaign against international shipping in the Red Sea would do little to hurt Israel directly. Iran must therefore look to itself and it is unclear whether the mullahs can match their rhetorical bombast with meaningful military results. Tehran certainly appears to have fared worse in the opening salvos. The loss of so many of many senior officers and scientists stemmed from a startling miscalculation. Convinced that Israel would not strike before Iranian nuclear negotiators had met their US counterparts in Oman on Sunday, Khamenei's generals chose to sleep in their own beds rather than in safe houses – a fatal decision. Likewise Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Iran's aerospace forces, convened a meeting of his senior staff in defiance of a directive banning just such gatherings. All were killed. Those in the military and political hierarchy who remain alive will be looking at last year's Hezbollah precedent with considerable unease. Israel systematically eliminated almost ever single one of the group's top commanders, culminating in Nasrallah himself. Such is Israel's intelligence prowess that many analysts assume Iran's senior leadership has been penetrated and that even Khamenei himself may not be safe. These are hardly ideal conditions in which to plan a war.
Spectator
34 minutes ago
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Netanyahu wants to topple the Iranian regime
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an hour ago
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