Israel attacks Iran's capital with explosions booming across Tehran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.
The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over it not working with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more-advanced ones.
Israel for years has warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it doesn't want — though official there have repeatedly warned it could. The US has been preparing for something to happen, already pulling some diplomats from Iraq's capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East.
People in Tehran awoke to the sound of the blast. State television acknowledged the blast.
It wasn't immediately clear what had been hit, though smoke could be rising from Chitgar, a neighborhood in western Tehran.
Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising over 2 percent.
The White House did not have an immediate comment Thursday night.
As the explosions in Tehran started, President Donald Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes.
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Arab News
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Arab News
an hour ago
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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 leapt 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 country 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 defenses, 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, where Iran has refined uranium to levels Western countries have long said are suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. The UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty. Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran had rejected the last US offer.
