Latest news with #IranianRegime
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel military says Friday's strikes on Iran killed nine nuclear scientists
The Israeli military said on Saturday its airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities the previous day resulted in the deaths of nine leading Iranian nuclear scientists. 'During the Israeli air force strikes at the onset of Operation Rising Lion, nine senior scientists and experts, who advanced the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons program, were eliminated,' the military said in a statement, listing the names of those killed. 'Their elimination represents a significant blow to the Iranian regime's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.' The military said the strikes were carried out on the basis of 'precise intelligence gathered by the intelligence directorate.'
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel army says striking Iran missile launchers
Israel's military said Saturday it was striking dozens of missile launchers in Iran, after Tehran fired multiple barrages in response to its strikes on military and nuclear facilities. The Israeli air force 'continues striking dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers in Iran,' the military said in a statement. It said that overnight the air force 'struck dozens of targets, including surface-to-air missile infrastructure, as part of the effort to damage the Iranian regime's aerial defense capabilities in the area of Tehran.' 'For the first time since the beginning of the war, over 1,500 kilometers (well over 900 miles) from Israeli territory, the Israeli air force struck defense arrays in the area of Tehran.' Iran struck Israel with multiple missile barrages overnight, after a massive onslaught against its nuclear and military facilities on Friday killed key generals and nuclear scientists. Israeli emergency services said two people were killed when a rocket hit a residential area early Saturday, as the two sides traded fire for a second day despite international calls for de-escalation. The commanding officer of the Israeli air force, MG Tomer Bar, said the overnight strikes in the Tehran area carried 'operational and national significance.' 'We damaged -- and will continue to damage -- strategic sites and enemy sources of knowledge,' he was quoted as saying in a military statement. 'Activities like these require complicated coordination and collaboration between different sources and capabilities in the force.'
SBS Australia
6 hours ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Iran's Supreme Leader accuses Israeli government of triggering a war
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the country's two largest cities before dawn, sending residents rushing into shelters. The military says its air defence systems were operating, seeking to intercept Iranian missiles. It says rescue teams were operating at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported, without commenting on casualties. Israel's ambulance service says at least 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most with minor injuries and police later reported that one person had died. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove the threat it says is posed by Iran's nuclear program. He also had a message for the people of Iran. " The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for nearly 50 years threatens to destroy my country, the State of Israel. The objective of Israel's military operation is to remove this threat- both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel. And as we achieve our objective we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom." Several explosions were heard in the Iranian capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said at least 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran on Friday, and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians. The strikes also killed Iran's highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media has reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Israel's initial strikes have destroyed the above-ground uranium enrichment plant at Iran's Natanz nuclear site. said radiation levels outside the site "remained unchanged". Iran has also reported that there was only limited damage to the Fordo and Isfahan nuclear sites. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accuses Israel of initiating a war and says Iran will not hold back in responding. "Life will become bitter for them, without a doubt. They should not think they struck and it's over — no. They started this and triggered a war. We will not allow them to walk away unscathed from the great crime they have committed." Netanyahu, who for decades has raised the alarm about Iran's nuclear program, says he authorised the air assault in an effort to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Tehran denies this - insisting its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only - but the UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty. Iran has been backed in their condemnation of the strikes by Russia and China, with Russia accusing the west of whipping up anti-Iran hysteria for months. The UK says it has spoken to both sides, and is urging restraint- a call largely echoed by the UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo. " I reiterate the call by the Secretary-General to both sides to show maximum restraint at this critical moment and to avoid, at all costs, a descent into deeper and wider regional conflict. We must, at all costs, avoid a growing conflagration that would have enormous global consequences." Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, says his country had no choice but to attack Iran. But his Iranian counterpart, Amir Saeed Iravani, says it is Israel who is causing all the problems in the Middle East. "Supporting Israel today is supporting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and deliberate undermining of global peace and security. The Israeli regime's long-standing crimes against the oppressed Palestinian people, its repeated violation of the sovereignty of regional countries, and its possessions of undeclared weapons of mass destruction have made the Middle East a cauldron of chronic instability." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says any escalation in the region was concerning. "We want to see a dialogue. We, of course, are very conscious of the threat that Iran becoming a nuclear state would represent to peace and security in the region as well. We want to see these issues resolved through dialogue." The violence raises questions as to whether Sunday's sixth round of talks planned between the US and Iran to seek a deal on Iran's nuclear program would go ahead in Oman. The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.
Free Malaysia Today
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Israeli army claims Iran's nuclear programme nearing ‘point of no return'
Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran. (AP pic) JERUSALEM : The Israeli military said on Friday that the intelligence it had gathered showed Iran was approaching the 'point of no return' on its nuclear programme. 'In recent months, accumulated intelligence information has provided evidence that the Iranian regime is approaching the point of no return,' it said in a statement. 'The convergence of the Iranian regime's efforts to produce thousands of kilograms of enriched uranium, alongside decentralised and fortified enrichment compounds in underground facilities, enables the Iranian regime to enrich uranium to military-grade levels, enabling the regime to obtain a nuclear weapon within a short period of time,' it added. In a separate briefing to journalists, Israeli army spokesman brigadier-general Effie Defrin said that Israeli jets had also 'attacked and damaged' Iranian air defence systems. Defrin said Israel saw a three-pronged threat from Iran. Firstly, Iran was 'rushing toward a nuclear bomb', he alleged. 'We are now revealing for the first time, based on intelligence, that the Iranian regime has established a secret programme,' he said. 'As part of this programme, senior nuclear scientists in Iran secretly conducted experiments to advance all the necessary components for building a nuclear weapon. 'This is unequivocal proof that the Iranian regime is working to acquire nuclear weapons in the near future,' he claimed. Defrin said the second part of the threat involved Iran building thousands of ballistic missiles 'with plans to double and triple them'. 'The third component: the Iranian regime continues to arm, fund and direct its proxies across the Middle East against the state of Israel,' he added. 'Our operation's goal is to eliminate the threat.'
CBS News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Israeli airstrikes hit multiple Iran nuclear sites. Here's what we know about them.
The Israeli military targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, research scientists and senior military commanders in dozens of preemptive airstrikes early Friday morning in what it dubbed "Operation Rising Lion." The strikes — which the Israel Defense Forces said included dropping "over 330 different munitions" on more than 100 targets in Iran — prompted Iran to launch about 100 missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack later Friday. The IDF said its Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the missiles, and U.S. officials confirmed that the United States helped Israel intercept Iranian missiles. IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin claimed intelligence showed "the Iranian regime has made significant progress in achieving nuclear capability and its ability to act against us," calling it an emerging and existential threat to Israel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was not involved in Israel's airstrikes on Iran. The attacks came one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors censured Iran for the first time in 20 years for 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. The IAEA is the United Nations' Vienna-based nuclear watchdog. It said in a confidential report last month that Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, and called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with the agency's probe. President Trump on Friday urged Iran to "make a deal, before there is nothing left" and to agree to new restrictions on its nuclear program while it still can. The president has previously said Iran cannot be allowed to enrich uranium, a term Iran has not been willing to accept. Steve Witkoff, the president's Middle East envoy, was set to hold a sixth round of talks with Iran in the Gulf state of Oman on Sunday. Here's a look at some major Iranian sites and their importance in Tehran's program. Natanz enrichment facility Iran's nuclear facility at Natanz, located some 135 miles southeast of Tehran, is the country's main enrichment site. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies via AP Part of the facility on Iran's Central Plateau is underground to defend against potential airstrikes. It operates multiple cascades, or groups of centrifuges working together to more quickly enrich uranium. Iran also is burrowing into the Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, or Pickax Mountain, which is just beyond Natanz's southern fencing. Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet computer virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Two separate sabotage attacks, attributed to Israel, also have struck the facility. In testimony Friday before the U.N. about Israel's strikes, IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Iran confirmed that its Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant had been attacked. He said the above-ground portion of the plant where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% had "been destroyed" and centrifuges may have been damaged. He said Iranian authorities also reported attacks on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and Esfahan site. Fordo enrichment facility Iran's nuclear facility at Fordo is located some 60 miles southwest of Tehran. It also hosts centrifuge cascades, but isn't as big a facility as Natanz. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies via AP Buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries, Fordo appears designed to withstand airstrikes. Its construction began at least in 2007, according to the IAEA, although Iran only informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog about the facility in 2009 after the U.S. and allied Western intelligence agencies became aware of its existence. This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on April 1, 2025. Planet Labs PBC / AP Bushehr nuclear power plant Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, some 465 miles south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility. The Bushehr reactors are seen in this Maxar Technologies satellite image from January 2025. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA. New reactors under construction at the Bushehr site are seen in this Maxar Technologies satellite image from January 2025. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies Arak heavy water reactor The Arak heavy water reactor is 155 miles southwest of Tehran. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon. Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns. The U.S. withdrew from the international nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018, and Iran partially withdrew in 2019. The Arak facility is seen in this Maxar Technologies satellite image from February 2025. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center The facility in Isfahan, some 215 miles southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It also is home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with the country's atomic program. The Isfahan facility is seen in this Maxar Technologies satellite image from March 2025. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies Tehran Research Reactor The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country's atomic program. The U.S. actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America's "Atoms for Peace" program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns. The Tehran Research Reactor is seen in this Maxar Technologies satellite image from April 2025. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies , and contributed to this report.
