Latest news with #IranianOfficial
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Israel-Iran conflict live updates: Iran says ‘our revenge has started' as missiles strike major Israeli city
Welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East. The region remains on edge after Israel's surprise attack on targets throughout Iran yesterday. In recent hours, Iran has retaliated with missile strikes of its own, at least some of which broke through Israel's Iron Dome defence system and exploded in the city Tel Aviv. Residents have been told to stay in bomb shelters when instructed to by the authorities. 'Our revenge has just started, they will pay a high price for killing our commanders, scientists and people,' a senior Iranian official told Reuters. 'Nowhere in Israel will be safe,' they said. 'Our revenge will be painful.' The United States has confirmed it is helping Israel by shooting down some Iranian missiles. Iran is also claiming to have shot down an Israeli fighter jet and captured its pilot. Israel says that is untrue. Defence Minister Israel Katz reacted to Iran's retaliation by saying it had 'crossed red lines by launching missiles towards Israeli civilian areas'. 'Tehran will pay a heavy price,' he said. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech urging Iranian civilians to revolt against their nation's regime, made a similar pledge. 'The regime doesn't know what hit them. They don't know what will hit them,' he said.
New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Israeli Strikes Target Iran's Nuclear Program
Iranians on top of a hill after strikes in Tehran, Iran, on Friday. The Israeli military said it struck Iran early on Friday morning, attacking dozens of military targets, including nuclear sites, in different areas of the country. The scale of the attacks and the damage they caused were not immediately clear. But the strikes raised fears that the long-simmering conflict between the two countries could escalate into an all-out war involving the most two powerful militaries in the Middle East. Here's what to know about the situation: What happened in Iran? Explosions rocked Iran's capital, Tehran, early on Friday. Iran's state media showed blasts across the city, with smoke and fire billowing from buildings. The skies were quickly cleared of civilian flights. Mohammad Jamali, who was standing on a roof in Tehran, said he could see two Israeli jets attacking an air base of the Revolutionary Guards. 'What I can see is two massive flames and smoke coming from two military bases in eastern Tehran,' he said. A senior Iranian official said that a compound in Tehran where senior military commanders live, Shahrak Shahid Mahalati, had been attacked, and that three residential buildings had been demolished. Residents in the Iranian cities of Isfahan, Arak and Kermanshah, which house military and industrial complexes, have also reported hearing explosions. A senior Iranian official said Iranian fighter jets had taken off to respond to the strike. Mehdi Rahmati, a conservative political analyst in Tehran, said, 'There is now a real chance of a regional war.' Why did Israel say it attacked Iran? Israeli officials said the strike was 'pre-emptive,' though there was no immediate indication that Iran was planning to attack. In a statement, the Israeli military said it acted 'in response to the Iranian regime's ongoing aggression against Israel' and suggested there would be more to come, calling its attack 'the first stage.' An Israeli military official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to comply with protocol, said the strikes had targeted elements of Iran's nuclear program and the regime's long-range missile capabilities. He said that Iran has been advancing a secret program to assemble a nuclear weapon, according to Israeli intelligence, and that it has enough material to assemble 15 nuclear bombs within days. The official did not provide details to support the assessment. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called Iran's nuclear program 'a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival' in a video statement. He said that Israel had also attacked Iran's main nuclear 'enrichment facility in Natanz,' as well as 'Iran's leading nuclear scientists.' Was the United States involved? Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the United States was 'not involved in strikes against Iran.' He added that 'Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.' Mr. Rubio warned Iran against any form of retaliation aimed at the U.S. forces in the region: 'Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.' The Israeli strike followed months of disagreement between President Trump and Mr. Netanyahu over how to handle Iran. Mr. Trump has discouraged Israel from attacking Iran while U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are ongoing. Hours before the attack, Mr. Trump said that an attack would likely destroy the chances for a diplomatic solution. 'I think it would blow it,' he said, before adding, 'might help it actually, but it could also blow it.' Anticipating a regional escalation, the United States withdrew diplomats from Iraq on Wednesday and authorized the voluntary departure of families of U.S. soldiers posted elsewhere in the Middle East. Some 40,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East to defend American bases and interests in the region, including the defense of Israel. The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, armed with F-35 attack planes, is steaming in the Arabian Sea.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Trump warns of 'chance of massive conflict' as Iran-Israel tensions rise
US President Donald Trump says the Middle East is facing the "chance of massive conflict" after Iran revealed it had received a warning that Israel was planning to attack it. Regional tensions are rising after a new UN watchdog finding that Iran was not complying with commitments designed to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon. Iran responded angrily and announced it would activate a new nuclear enrichment facility, which would be the country's third. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution," the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said in a joint statement. Separately, an Iranian official said a "friendly country" had warned Tehran that Israel was planning to strike its nuclear facilities. The US on Wednesday, local time, said it was ordering some American personnel to move out of Iraq. There are fears US facilities could be the target of Iranian retaliation to any attack. On Thursday, Mr Trump said: "Look, there's a chance of massive conflict. "We have a lot of American people in this area. And I said, we gotta tell them to get out because something could happen. Soon. "And I don't want to be the one that didn't give any warning and missiles are flying into their buildings. It's possible." Asked how imminent an Israeli strike on Iran was, he said: "I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like something that could very well happen." The US has been attempting to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Iran, something which Mr Trump says is "fairly close". "As long as there is an agreement, I don't want them [Israel] going in [to Iran] because I think it would blow it," Mr Trump said. "Might help it, actually, but it also could blow it." In 2018, the first Trump administration pulled the US out of an existing deal with Iran, and Iran has rapidly advanced its uranium enrichment program in the years since. But the UN watchdog's declaration that Iran is not complying with its non-proliferation obligations is the first finding of its kind in almost 20 years. The watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned that Iran had amassed more near-weapons-grade uranium and was now "the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material". It could mean Iran is referred to the UN Security Council and penalised with further sanctions. Mr Trump has previously warned that either Israel or the US could strike Iran's nuclear facilities if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal. A sixth round of talks between Iran and the US is scheduled to start on Sunday in Oman.
