Israel targets top Iranian commanders and nuclear sites in large-scale attack

Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on Friday morning, killing top military officials and targeting key nuclear sites, marking a major escalation that brings the two countries to the brink of all-out war.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned of retaliation from Iran, saying “a missile and drone attack against the state of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future”. The Israeli army said more than 100 drones were launched from Iran.

Iranian state media announced Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Maj Gen Hossein Salami was killed in the strikes, along with another senior IRGC figure. Chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri was also killed in the strikes, Fars news said.

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Six Iranian nuclear scientists were also killed, according to Tasnim news agency. At least 50 Iranians were injured in the Israeli attack, it added.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened “severe punishment” and warned Israel it should brace for a “bitter and painful fate” in response to its attack on his country.

Ali Shamkhani, a top aide to Mr Khamenei, was “critically injured” in a strike that targeted his residence in Tehran, Nour news reported.

Iran, Iraq and Jordan announced they had closed their airspace.

The US denied involvement in the strikes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that “Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defence”. He notably did not say the US supported Israel's attack, which comes as President Donald Trump had been trying to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran.

Explosions were heard north-east of Tehran, state-run Nour News reported. Local news outlets said at least one of the strikes had hit a residential area, with reports of civilian casualties. Witnesses reported other strikes around the central city of Natanz − where nuclear sites are located − and elsewhere.

The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed that the Natanz nuclear site had been struck and said it was in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from several locations in the Iranian capital.

Iran's air defence system was activated on Friday morning at full capacity, state TV reported. Iranian officials previously warned that any military action would elicit a firm and definite response from Tehran, news outlet Tasnim reported.

Israel's military said in a post on X that “dozens of jets” had carried out the attack on nuclear sites in Iran.

“The state of Israel has no choice but to fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens and will continue to do so everywhere it is required to do so, as we have done in the past,” the military said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the strikes as a “targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival”.

“We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme. We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponisation programme. We targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz,” he said in an address. “We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck in the heart of Iran's ballistic missile programme.”

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said the country had launched “Operation Rising Lion” against Iranian nuclear and missile infrastructure. He also thanked the US, particularly Mr Trump, for its “leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons programme”.

Mr Rubio said in a statement that “President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners”. He also warned Tehran not to take action against the US.

“Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” Mr Rubio said.

Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said in a post on X before reports of the strike that he was “at our embassy in Jerusalem and closely following the situation. We will remain here all night. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

The US embassy in Israel has directed “all government employees and their family members to shelter in place until further notice”.

Israel has repeatedly warned it could attack Iranian nuclear plants, particularly if US-Iran talks on a deal to put limits on Tehran's nuclear programme were to collapse.

Mr Trump said on Thursday that a potential attack by Israel “looks like it’s something that could very well happen”.

Tehran had on Wednesday threatened to hit US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, and if it were attacked over its nuclear programme. Hours later, the US announced it was evacuating non-essential staff from its missions in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Further fuelling tension, Iran said on Thursday it had built and would activate a third nuclear enrichment plant, after the UN's atomic watchdog censured Tehran for failing to comply with non-proliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.