Latest news with #Kermanshah
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Science
- Associated Press
Satellite photos reveal damage to Iranian missile bases after Israeli strikes
Satellite images analyzed Saturday by The Associated Press revealed some of the damage sustained by Iran's ballistic missile arsenal in an Israeli attack on the country. Images from Planet Labs PBC taken Friday showed damage at two missile bases, one in Kermanshah and one in Tabriz, both in western Iran. At Kermanshah, where the base is up against a mountainside, burns could be seen across a wide area after the attack. In Tabriz, images showed damage at multiple sites on the base, as well as what appears to be smoke. Iran has not acknowledged the damage, though it reported on Israeli strikes in the area.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Israel's defense minister warns "Tehran will burn" if Iran continues retaliatory attacks
Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that "Tehran will burn" if Iran continues firing missiles at Israel. Iran's retaliatory strikes come after Israel unleashed a series of blistering attacks on Iran's nuclear program and armed forces on Thursday. Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. At least three people have died in Israel, and dozens wounded, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials said Saturday morning. Iran's U.N. ambassador said at least 78 people have died and hundreds have been wounded in Iran from Israel's strikes. "If (Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn," Katz said. Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signaling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack on Saturday. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, "This is not over." He spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with official procedures. Israel's initial assault used warplanes — as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, according to officials — to hit key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Israel's army said Saturday it killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear project. "The individuals who were eliminated played a central part of the progress toward nuclear weapons," the IDF said in a news release. "Their elimination represents a significant blow to the Iranian regime's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction." Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by 20 months of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News that U.S. forces helped Israel intercept Iranian missiles on Friday. Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. Leo Correa / AP Both Israel and Iran said their attacks would continue, raising the prospect of another protracted Mideast conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Israel would welcome the government's overthrow even if it is not actively seeking it. "The time has come for you to unite around your flag and your historic legacy, by standing up for your freedom from an evil and oppressive regime," Netanyahu said Friday. "It has never been weaker. This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard." Strikes could derail U.S.-Iran nuclear talks Israel's strikes also put further talks between the United States and Iran over a nuclear accord into doubt before they were set to meet Sunday in Oman. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei called further nuclear talks with the United States "meaningless" after Israeli strikes on the country, state television said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. was not involved in Israel's initial strike, and that his top priority is protecting American assets in the Middle East. The State Department on Thursday informed multiple U.S.-allied governments in the Middle East in advance of Israel's strikes on Iran, four sources told CBS News. "The U.S. did a job that made the talks become meaningless," Baghaei was quoted as saying. He added that Israel had passed all Iran's red lines by committing a "criminal act" through its strikes. However, he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The Mizan news agency, which is run by Iran's judiciary, quoted him as saying: "It is still not clear what we decide about Sunday's talks." Firefighters and people clean up the scene of an explosion at a residence compound after Israeli attacks in Tehran, Friday, June 13, 2025. Vahid Salemi / AP President Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks "will only get worse." "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left," he wrote. Will Todman, the chief of staff of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CBS News that Mr. Trump has "put a lot of effort into the nuclear negotiations with Iran," but "seems to have grown frustrated with the lack of success in those talks." "The Iranians tend to negotiate very slowly. And be very slow to make concessions," Todman said. "And so I think he's now viewing these military actions by Israel as a way of increasing pressure on Iran to make those concessions and ultimately come to a deal." Iranian missiles strike Israel Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: "We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed." Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. Iranians awoke Saturday to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. Israel's military said more drones were intercepted near the Dead Sea early Saturday. A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they were wounded when a projectile hit a building in the city. A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital said one woman was killed. An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, June 13, 2025. Tomer Neuberg / AP Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two more people and wounding 19, according to Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Meanwhile, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. A video posted on X showed a column of smoke and flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport. The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, "in the area of Tehran." Israel's paramedic services said 34 people were wounded in the barrage on the Tel Aviv area, including a woman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an AP journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. "We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone, it fell apart," said Moshe Shani. This picture shows a trail from an Iranian rocket in the sky above Jerusalem on June 13, 2025. AHMAD GHARABLI U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Israel's ongoing airstrikes and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Israel's 20-month-long war with Gaza shows no signs of ending. At least 27 people were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight Friday, according to local hospitals. Strikes raise fears of all-out war Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate de-escalation from both sides. Israel had long threatened such a strike, and successive American administrations sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran's dispersed and hardened nuclear program. But a confluence of developments triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — plus the reelection of Mr. Trump — created the conditions that allowed Israel to finally follow through on its threats. Netanyahu said the U.S. was informed in advance of the attack. On Thursday, Iran was censured by the U.N.'s atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Above-ground section of Natanz facility destroyed Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. It also appeared to strike a second, smaller nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies via AP U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed. Israel's Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defenses and missile launchers near Tehran, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not possible to independently corroborate those claims. Over the past year, Israel has been targeting Iran's air defenses, hitting a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery in April 2024, and surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October. The first wave of strikes gave Israel "significant freedom of movement" in Iran's skies, clearing the way for further attacks, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack with the media. The official said Israel is prepared for an operation that could last up to two weeks, but that there was no firm timeline. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday: Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces' general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division. Gen. Majid Mousavi will replace Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in Friday's airstrike. The Guard's aerospace division oversees Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Asharq Al-Awsat
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel Warns 'Tehran Will Burn' if More Missiles Fired
Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles on Israel after at least three people died and dozens were wounded Saturday morning, following a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran's nuclear program and its armed forces. Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. "If (Iranian Supreme leader Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said. Iranian state television reported online that air defense systems were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signaling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city, according to a video posted by an affiliate of Iranian state TV. Israel's assault used warplanes — as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, according to officials — to hit key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks. Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. Israel's military said on Saturday that its fighter jets were set to resume striking targets in Tehran. "The way to Iran has been paved," the military's chief of staff and air force chief were quoted as saying in an army statement. The military "is proceeding according to its operational plans, and (Israeli air force) fighters jets are set to resume striking targets in Tehran," it added.
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
Israel strikes Iran nuclear sites and military leadership as Middle East braces for retaliation
Update: Date: Title: Iran suspends all domestic and international flights, state media says Content: Iran has suspended all domestic and international flights, the country's state-affiliated Fars News Agency reported, citing the civil aviation authority. Israeli strikes continued Friday morning across different cities, including Tabriz, Kermanshah, Hamedan, Qasr-e Shirin, Kangavar, state media reported. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. Update: Date: Title: Netanyahu will speak with Trump today, Israeli official says Content: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak to US President Donald Trump later today, according to an Israeli official. Netanyahu is also expected to hold a situational assessment on Friday, the official said. The timing of both is unclear. A US official confirmed that Trump is expected to speak with Netanyahu. CNN has also reached out to the White House for comment. Update: Date: Title: President Trump tells CNN Israel strikes on Iran were "very successful" Content: President Donald Trump told CNN that the US supports Israel and called the strikes on Iran last night 'a very successful attack.' 'We of course support Israel, obviously and supported it like nobody has ever supported it,' Trump said in a brief phone call. 'Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know I gave them, I don't know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61,' he added. 'They should now come to the table to make a deal before it's too late. It will be too late for them. You know the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners,' the president said. He would not specify which people he was referring to. Asked if this was a result of Israel's attack last night, Trump responded sarcastically: 'They didn't die of the flu; they didn't die of Covid.' Remember: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes. Update: Date: Title: Israeli military says country needs to prepare for "prolonged operation" Content: Israel must prepare for 'a prolonged operation,' Israeli military spokesperson, Effie Defrin, told reporters on Friday. 'We will continue operating until the war's objectives are reached,' Defrin said, referring to tensions with Iran as well as Israel's war in Gaza. The spokesperson said that Israel is preparing for a response from Iran. 'We know they're preparing for a response and to fire at us,' he said. Defrin added that most Iranian drones fired in retaliation toward Israel Friday were intercepted. Update: Date: Title: Iranian president asks people to trust Iran's leadership after Israeli attack Content: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian urged the Iranian people to remain unified and trust Iran's leadership after Israel struck the nation in an unprecedented attack on Friday. 'I ask the entire nation to maintain their unity… at the same time to trust the officials,' Pezeshkian said. 'The nation needs unity… more than ever,' he added. The president vowed to give Israel a 'tough, rational and powerful response'. Top officials from the Islamic Republic have been issuing warnings to Israel after an attack killed its top military commanders, scientists and hit its nuclear facilities. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel will face 'severe punishment' while the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the attack 'a declaration of war' Meanwhile, crowds of protesters rallied in Tehran on Friday, calling for retaliation against Israeli strikes on Iran. This post has been updated with additional remarks from Iran's president. Update: Date: Title: Israel's Mossad smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of Friday strikes, Israeli security official says Content: Israel's Mossad spy agency smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of Friday's strikes that were used to target its defenses from within, according to an Israeli security official. The official said that 'a base for launching explosive drones was established inside Iran and that the drones were activated during Friday's attack to target missile launchers at a base near Tehran.' Israel had also 'smuggled precision weapons into central Iran and positioned them near surface-to-air missile systems,' the official said, adding that Israel also deployed strike systems on vehicles. Israel struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear, missile and military complex early Friday, in an unprecedented attack that killed several of Iran's most powerful figures and plunged the wider Middle East into dangerous new territory. Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and military leaders. Israel's spy agency, Mossad, released video of operatives inside Iran before the strikes. #CNN #News Update: Date: Title: The scale of Israel's strikes on Iran stands alone in the region's history Content: Not since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s has Iran seen such a devastating series of strikes in a single day. The attacks surpass a series of historical flashpoints, and signal a new phase in a conflict between Israel and Iran that for decades was waged in the shadows, before exploding into real-world confrontation in the past two years. Last year, Iran launched its largest ever ballistic missile attack on Israel, in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. That briefly threatened all-out war between the two powers, before tensions were calmed for the time being. Before Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, the tensions between the two nations were characterized by covert operations, cyber attacks and occasional, targeted strikes - some of which Tehran blamed on Israel, and others on the United States. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, believed to be the mastermind of Iran's nuclear program, was traveling by car east of Tehran when he was shot dead in November 2020. Several months earlier Qasem Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, was killed by a US airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport. The same year, a building used to assemble machines for uranium enrichment at the Natanz industrial complex was rocked by an explosion. But no single attack compares in size and scale to the wave of strikes Israel carried out on Friday. Israel used 200 fighter jets in its attack, dropping more than 330 'various munitions' and striking more than 100 targets across Iran, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Update: Date: Title: Iranian Revolutionary Guards air chief and other leaders killed in strike on command center, Israel says Content: The Israeli military says it killed several senior leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Air Force in a strike, including its commander, Amir Ali Hajizadeh. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said overnight Friday it 'identified that the senior chain of command of the Air Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had assembled in an underground command center to prepare for an attack on the State of Israel.' 'As part of the combined opening strike, IAF fighter jets struck the command center where the Commander of the IRGC's Air Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was located along with other senior officials,' the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Hajizadeh was killed alongside Commander of the UAV Force of the IRGC's Air Force, Taherpour, and the Commander of the Aerial Command of the IRGC's Air Force, Davoud Shaykhian, the IDF said, adding other senior officials were 'eliminated.' Some context: Hajizadeh's death, which has been confirmed on Iranian state media, is a major blow to Tehran. He headed the country's missile program which was involved in defending the country's air space and carrying out attacks overseas. Hajizadeh was the mastermind of Iran's previous attack on Israel in April 2024 as well as the missile attack on a US base in Iraq in 2020. Update: Date: Title: Israeli strikes ongoing in Iran, state media say, with reports key nuclear site again hit Content: Israeli strikes are ongoing in Iran, targeting several cities across the nation, state-run media said. Iranian state television and state-affiliated media said the Natanz nuclear site was struck in a missile attack. The outskirts of the cities of Tabriz and Shiraz were also targeted in what state television called 'an aggressive attack' CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. Update: Date: Title: Israel launches major attack on Iran, putting the region on the brink of war. Here's what you need to know Content: The Middle East is hanging on the cusp of a generational conflict Friday, after Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, killing three of its most powerful men and striking locations key to its nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the operation — whose scale already stands alone in history — is not over. But Iran's retaliation has begun. Tehran has fired more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which said Israeli defenses were working to intercept the drones. Here's what you need to know. Read more: Follow this page for developments as they happen, or read more detail on why Israel attacked now, who has been killed, how we got here, and what it might mean for the region and for the US. Update: Date: Title: Netanyahu has angled for a bigger fight with Iran for decades. Now he's got one Content: Throughout his time as Israel's longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu has moved slowly, a reactive politician waiting to the last possible moment to make a decision. Until now, that was true even on Iran. For decades, Netanyahu preached on the world stage about the threat Iran poses to the region and beyond. He used his numerous speeches at the United Nations General Assembly to rail against Tehran, perhaps most famously when he held up a cartoon picture of a bomb. But he pushed for presenting a credible military threat from Israel together with the US, not alone. Israel has carried out attention-grabbing covert actions in Iran over the years – such as the theft of Iran's nuclear archive in 2018, or the killing of Tehran's top nuclear scientist in 2020 — but those operations did not amount to massive and overt military action against Tehran's nuclear program. That all changed in dramatic fashion in the last 24 hours. Netanyahu saw himself as leading the charge against Iran, warning the world that often didn't want to hear his message. On Friday morning, that message was delivered with unprecedented force, coming just days before the sixth round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran. Netanyahu was faced with the real possibility that Trump was going to reach virtually the same nuclear agreement the American leader torpedoed in 2018 - one that would have left Iran with some ability to enrich uranium and crucially with the nuclear knowhow it had built up over decades. With Iran and its proxies weakened across the region – and with a chance to derail nuclear negotiations — Netanyahu, who had delivered threatening rhetoric for years, finally chose to carry out that threat. Update: Date: Title: Damage to Iran's Natanz nuclear facility was on the surface, says country's atomic energy agency Content: Israel's attack on one of Iran's primary nuclear enrichment facilities caused 'superficial damage,' according to the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Behrouz Kamalvandi said the agency does not have an estimate of the damage to Natanz, but most of it was on the surface. Natanz's enrichment capabilities are underground. Update: Date: Title: Iran's supreme leader names replacements for assassinated commanders Content: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed new commanders to head key military entities after Israel assassinated his top brass. Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour was appointed on Friday as the new commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an entity parallel to the regular military that Iran established to crush dissent at home and project the Islamic Republic's power abroad. He replaces Hossein Salami, who was killed by Israel on Friday. Khamenei also appointed Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi to the position of Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces to replace Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed earlier Friday. And Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani replaces Lt. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid as head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, an entity that coordinates between the IRGC and the regular army. Update: Date: Title: Trump warns Iran to agree to nuclear deal before "even more brutal" attacks Content: US President Donald Trump has warned Iran to agree to a nuclear deal 'before there is nothing left,' suggesting that subsequent Israeli attacks on the country will be 'even more brutal.' In a post on Truth Social early on Friday morning, Trump wrote that Iranian leaders 'didn't know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!' 'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,' Trump wrote. 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.' Negotiations over a new nuclear deal with Iran intensified in recent weeks, but Tehran's insistence on its right to enrich uranium had proven a major sticking point. Read Trump's Truth Social post in full: 'I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to 'just do it,' but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliner's spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!' Update: Date: Title: Israel's strikes on Iran "not good news" for Gaza, says Haaretz columnist Content: As the world's attention pivots to Israel's strikes on Iran and the regime's threatened retaliation, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza will once more go unnoticed and likely get worse, according to a columnist for Haaretz, a liberal newspaper in Israel. 'The world's attention will now move to Iran, and the starving and dying children in Gaza, the destruction and the massive killing, will be totally forgotten,' Gideon Levy told CNN on Friday. Although Israel's blockade of Gaza has been partially lifted, and a new US-backed plan to deliver aid to the enclave is underway, the United Nations and other aid agencies have warned that the plight of Gazans is rapidly worsening. 'People in Gaza are starving,' the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an assessment last week. The UN also reported that the number of children in Gaza with acute malnutrition is rising. 'Gaza will – at least for the coming days and weeks – be under a shade,' Levy warned. 'Every day the (war in) Gaza continues, means the killing of dozens and dozens of innocent people, and now even the world will not pay attention to it. This is not good news for Gaza – not at all.' Update: Date: Title: "I just never thought this would happen": Huge Israeli attack stuns Iran Content: Fear and panic consumed Iranians who were woken up with 'shaking' homes as Israel launched a sweeping attack on the country's nuclear, missile and military complex early Friday. Azzam, a 35-year-old Iranian citizen who lives close to Saadat Abad in northern Tehran, an area which was targeted by Israel, said: 'I woke up with the whole house shaking. I was very scared, not knowing what had happened.' Sam, 29, said he fears further attacks. 'I am concerned about the escalation of this, and what this means for us in Tehran.' 'We have no real information, and there are rumors that this will happen every night. Do we stay in our homes? There is just so much uncertainty,' he told CNN from the Iranian capital. All of the people CNN spoke to in Tehran requested anonymity due to concerns for their safety. Another Iranian, who preferred to stay anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they were shocked that Israel hit civilian areas. 'I just never thought that would happen.' A 17-year-old Iranian who also asked to remain anonymous said they saw people 'screaming on the streets' and buildings shaking. 'I didn't know what was happening, it was really scary,' the Tehran resident said. Others feared their leaders could no longer protect them, having seen Israel's strikes take out some of Iran's top military commanders. Bahram, 50, said the security guard for his building told him: 'When these military commanders can't take care of their own, how are they meant to take care of us against Israeli attacks?' Update: Date: Title: Iran state media reports new Israeli attack in northwestern city of Tabriz Content: Iranian state media says there has been a fresh Israeli attack, showing a large plume of smoke rising after an explosion in the northwestern city of Tabriz. Tasnim news agency said Tabriz Airport was 'currently under heavy Israeli attack.' The Fars news agency said Israel struck Tabriz, without clarifying further, adding that about 10 sites in East Azerbaijan province had been targeted. CNN has asked the Israeli military for comment. Update: Date: Title: How Israelis are preparing for Iran's retaliation Content: Israel's military says that Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory in what is expected to be the first stage of a much larger counter-attack. CNN's Paula Hancocks shares how citizens are preparing. Update: Date: Title: Iran's primary nuclear enrichment facility damaged in Israel's attack Content: Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility, Natanz, was damaged in Israel's attack on Friday, the Iranian atomic energy agency said. The heavily fortified facility is 150 miles south of the capital Tehran and houses thousands of centrifuges, used to enrich uranium for nuclear energy. The complex has overground and underground facilities and it's unclear what was damaged but no casualties were reported, the agency said. The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said Iranian authorities have confirmed that Natanz was 'impacted' but there were no elevated radiation levels. Grossi told members of the board at the International Atomic Energy Agency that other nuclear facilities in Iran, Isfahan and Fordow, 'have not been impacted.' Update: Date: Title: Germany increases protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions following Israel's strikes on Iran Content: German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Israel has a right to 'defend its existence' and has moved to increase protections for Jewish institutions in Germany, after Israel launched an unprecedented round of strikes on Iran. Merz had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday morning, and convened a meeting of Germany's security cabinet, the chancellery in Berlin has said. Merz reaffirmed Germany's position that Israel has the right to 'defend its existence and the security of its citizens' and stated that 'the goal must remain that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.' 'Iran continues to fail to fulfill its obligations to disclose its work on enriching nuclear-capable material,' Merz said, adding that it had 'threatened to further accelerate uranium enrichment.' 'This nuclear program violates the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and poses a serious threat to the entire region, especially to the State of Israel,' said the German leader. Merz called for both sides to 'refrain' from steps that could 'lead to further escalation and destabilize the entire region.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
What has Israel hit in Iran and who were the generals and nuclear scientists killed?
More than 200 Israeli jets were involved in air raids on at least 100 targets in Iran in five waves of strikes, including at the key Natanz nuclear site as well as at ballistic missile sites. Israel also killed at least six senior Iranian nuclear scientists and a number of senior Iranian officials, including its most senior military officer and the head of the Revolutionary Guards. About a dozen different sites appear to have been attacked, including in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan and Kermanshah. What nuclear sites were attacked? The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed strikes at the Natanz nuclear site about 135 miles south east of Tehran, Iran's most significant nuclear enrichment site, that began at just after 4am local time. Protected by heavy concrete walls, Natanz's centrifuge facilities are located underground and the site has been targeted for sabotage operations on multiple locations. Construction work had been under way to expand the site. Natanz is where Iran has produced much of its nuclear fuel – including a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that the west has suggested could be used in a future nuclear weapon. It is unclear how much damage was done during the attack, but video footage posted online appeared to show the aftermath of massive explosions. However, on Friday morning the IAEA said their had been no reported nuclear contamination from the Israeli attack. At the time of writing, the IAEA – quoting Iranian authorities – said a number of other key Iranian sites including the Fordow nuclear enrichment site, the Isfahan nuclear site and the Bushehr nuclear power plant had not been hit. What else was hit? Early reports suggest Bid Kaneh, which hosts several missile development and production sites, was also hit on Friday morning. Iran has confirmed a number of senior military figures and scientists were also assassinated, some in strikes on private residences, pointing to a military operation going far beyond Israel's stated intention of preventing Tehran crossing the threshold for acquiring a nuclear weapon. Among those killed were the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, suggesting a broader 'decapitation' strike aimed at weakening the Iranian regime. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed hope the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran's theocracy, saying his message to the Iranian people was that Israel's fight was not with them, but with the 'brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years'. Who were Salami and Bagheri? Both officers were closely associated with the centres of power in Iran's security hierarchy having risen through the ranks after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Salami began his career in the IRGC in 1980 during the Iran-Iraq war, becoming deputy commander in 2009 then, a decade later, commander of the 125,000-strong force that has played a key role in Iran's forward foreign policy in the region. Salami had been sanctioned by the UN and US for his involvement in Iran's nuclear and military programmes. 'If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you,' Salami warned Tehran's foes during a tour of an underground missile base in January. Mohammad Bagheri, who was in his early 60s, had also risen through the IRGC, like Salami fighting in the Iran-Iraq war with a background in military intelligence before being appointed chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran – the country's highest military position – in 2016. His position made him, formally at least, the second most powerful figure in Iran after the Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some press reports have suggested Bagheri was one of the revolutionary students that seized the US embassy in 1979. Gholamali Rashid, the deputy commander in chief of the armed forces, was also reported as having been killed. It was also reported that Ali Shamkhani, a key adviser to and confidant of Khamenei, was also killed in a strikes on an apartment block in Tehran. Who were the scientists who were killed? Israel has a history of targeting Iranian nuclear scientists, and this attack was no exception with at least six scientists being killed on Friday. The Tasnim news agency named the six scientists including Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran, a theoretical physicist and the president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran. Also killed was Fereydoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Tasnim additionally named Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, as other scientists who were killed.
