Newsman: Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists
Israel asserted the barrage was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Iran was actively working on such a weapon before the strikes.
Israel’s military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Its 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.
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 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby.
Israel said it struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, too, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.
Israel military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the Natanz facility was “significantly damaged” and that the operation was “still in the beginning.”
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.
Iran confirmed all three deaths, significant blows its governing theocracy that will complicate efforts to retaliate. Khamenei said other top military officials and scientists were also killed.
Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making. In a video statement sent to journalists Friday, he said he ordered plans for the attack last November, soon after the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of Iran’s strongest proxies. Netanyahu said the attack was planned for April but was postponed.
The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday, and an Associated Press reporter could hear air raid sirens near their home.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency is reporting a fire at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, with a video posted on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: “We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.” Iran’s U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in Israeli attacks.
Iran retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions flared in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the earlier wave of missiles, to head to shelter, as missiles damaged homes and killed two people.
Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday.
Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two people and injuring 19, according to Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel’s Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged.
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
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 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.
On Thursday, Iran had been censured by the U.N.’s atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Countries in region condemn Israel’s attack
Countries in the region condemned Israel’s attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides.
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon at Iran’s request. In a letter to the council, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the killing of its officials and scientists “state terrorism” and affirmed his country’s right to self-defense.
Above-ground section of Natanz facility destroyed
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. He said all the electrical infrastructure and emergency power generators were destroyed, as well as a section of the facility where uranium was enriched up to 60%.
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.
In its first response Friday, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.
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, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” he wrote.
Israel calls attacks preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear program
Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
“This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival,” Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.”
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but has never acknowledged having such weapons.
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.
