Israel launches preemptive strikes on Iran as explosions rock nation

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

By and NATALIE LISBONA IN JERUSALEM and STEPHEN M. LEPORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Israel has launched an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and assassinated the head of the country's armed forces in a huge strike with over 200 warplanes - prompting fears of retaliation and war in the Middle East. Benjamin Netanyahu said Operation Rising Lion targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country's ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials. The Israeli military said Friday morning that Iran has launched over 100 drones at Israel in the past few hours in retaliation for the Israeli strikes, killing top officials.
The US has distanced itself from the strikes and warned Iran not to attack US bases in the region in retaliation, telling Tehran it was not involved in the attacks. 'In the last few hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, and all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats,' Brig. Gen. Effie Deffrin, the chief army spokesman, said in a statement. It comes after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Israel will face 'severe punishment' over its attack on the country. Khamenei issued a statement confirming top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.
Israel 'opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country,' Khamenei said. In doing so, he said Israel had revealed 'its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers.' 'In the enemy's attacks, a number of commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately continue their duties, God willing. 'With this crime, the Zionist regime has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself, and it will certainly face it.' Khamenei issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It also confirmed that several commanders and scientists were killed in the attack.
Israel 'opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers,' Khamenei said. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quotes an anonymous official saying Iran will offer a 'decisive' response to Israel's attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that the attacks will continue 'for as many days at it takes to remove this threat' of Iran's nuclear program. 'The Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime,' Netanyahu said. 'Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal.'
Netanyahu alleged that Iran was working on a new plan to destroy Israel after its old plan, its circle of proxies, failed. He called that an intolerable threat that must be stopped. The prime minister later declared the strikes a success but warned more were coming: 'We are going to have many more achievements.' People in Iran's capital, Tehran, heard another round of explosions Friday morning hours after the initial attack. It wasn't immediately clear if it was air defense systems going off or another attack. The New York Times reported at least a half dozen military bases around Tehran residential homes used by military personnel were among the targets. An Israeli defense official said the strikes likely killed members of Iran's general staff, including the chief of staff and several senior nuclear scientists.
Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, was one of the top officials killed, Iranian state television reported Friday. Bagheri is a former top commander within Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that an Israeli strike hit Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. The head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was also killed in the strikes, Iranian state television reported. Gen. Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander in chief of the armed forces and nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, were all killed as well. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centers within the country's theocracy. It also controls Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was preparing for a response by the Iranians after the strike. 'Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,' Katz said in a statement. Iranian state media outlet IRNA said repeated explosions could be heard in Tehran. The attack set the headquarters of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Tehran ablaze, state television reported Friday. A reporter on air said he was unable to get closer due to the intensity of the fire. Multiple sites in the capital have been hit in the attack, although the extent of strikes remains unclear. Israel's defense minister has announced a 'special situation' in his country and said schools would stay shut on Friday. The country's military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has warned Iran and its regional proxies against retaliating against Israel. 'I warn, anyone who tries to challenge us will pay a heavy price,' he says.
Emmanuel Fabian, military correspondent for Times of Israel, wrote on X: 'The IDF confirms it has launched an aerial campaign against Iran's nuclear program. Dozens of targets across Iran related to the nuclear program and other military facilities are being struck by the Israeli Air Force, it says. 'The operation is dubbed 'Strength of a Lion.' The IDF says Iran has enough enriched uranium to build several bombs within days, and it needs to act against this 'imminent threat.'' Sirens were heard across Israel as a warning to be on the lookout for any possible response from Tehran. Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport was evacuated as all flights were canceled. The strikes come after it was yesterday revealed that Israel was planning an attack on Iran's nuclear sites within days after a UN watchdog said Tehran has breached its non-proliferation obligations. Sources in the US revealed the possibility of an imminent attack, which a senior source in the Israeli prime minister's office did not confirm or deny. But they did tell the Mail: 'President Trump said it best, 'Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon...' We agree. This is a global threat.'
The US announced it would evacuate personnel from the region amid concerns they could be targeted by Iran in reprisals. But a United States official told CNN that there was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes carried out by Israel in Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a White House statement that American forces are not involved and warned Iran against coming after the United States. 'Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,' he said. 'Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,' Rubio added. Donald Trump spoke to Fox News as the strikes were beginning and said that the US was aware of the attack ahead of time but had zero involvement. He said he hoped Iran would return to the negotiating table.
Netanyahu addressed President Trump in his address to the nation shortly after the attack, saying: 'He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program. Today, it is clear that Iran was just buying for time.' Earlier this evening, he posted to Truth Social: 'We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon,' he added. Israel's strikes come days before a sixth round of talks were planned between Iran and the US over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program this Sunday in Oman. Trump's new administration has been seeking a deal that would halt Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Israel's National Security Cabinet had met throughout the night leading up to the attack in Iran, according to an Israeli official.
The country has closed its airspace until further notice, according to the country's ministry of transportation. The New York Times reported an Iranian source saying Tehran has an immediate counter-attack plan in place if Israel strikes. The response is set to be of a similar scope to the attack it launched in October last year, when Iran fired more than 200 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel to overload air-defense systems, sending the entire population into bomb shelters. Most missiles were shot down or intercepted, causing limited damage. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Iran failed to provide the watchdog with credible explanations as to how uranium was detected at undeclared sites, despite the agency having investigated the matter for years.