The Israeli military has carried out several waves of air strikes targeting nuclear facilities and military sites across Iran, killing senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in a large-scale attack that raises fears of an all-out war in the region.
In a prerecorded video message posted early Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at hurting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile factories.
“This operation will take as long as is needed to complete the task of fending off the threat of annihilation against us,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military confirmed to The Times of Israel newspaper it had “launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme” in an operation dubbed “Rising Lion”.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said Iran’s nuclear programme had reached a “point of no return”, and Israel could not “wait for another moment to act” in the “fight to preserve our existence”.
In a later statement, the Israeli army confirmed that 200 fighter jets struck more than 100 targets across the country. Israeli strikes have been confirmed in at least eight locations across Iran, including the capital Tehran, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site in Natanz, and a nuclear research centre in Tabriz.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there was no sign of an increase in radiation levels at Natanz. A fuel enrichment plant in Fordow had also not been affected as of yet, it said, adding that a nuclear plant in Bushehr was also not impacted.
Iranian state media has reported several casualties, with civilians and senior Iranian officials among the dead. Confirmed killed are Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, and nuclear scientists Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi. It also said six scientists were killed in the overnight attack.
In a statement following the attacks, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Israel to prepare for a “bitter and painful fate”.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tehran has a “legal and legitimate” right to respond, as it promised to involve the US as Israel’s strikes could not have taken place without its “coordination and authorisation”.
Iranian response
Following the blitz early on Friday morning, the Israeli military said Iran launched about 100 drones towards Israel and that it was making an effort to shoot them down.
“Iran launched approximately 100 UAVs towards Israeli territory, which we are working to intercept,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said.
In a later statement, a military source told The Associated Press that Israel was intercepting drones outside Israeli territory.
An Al Jazeera reporter in Amman said loud sirens sounded over Jordan’s capital as Iranian drones were inbound to target Israel. Jordanian state media said the country’s air force was intercepting missiles and drones in its airspace.
Jordan’s state news agency quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying that the interceptions were carried out based on military assessments indicating that the missiles and drones were likely to fall within Jordanian territory, including populated areas, posing a potential threat to civilian safety.
Two Iraqi security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation said that more than 100 drones launched from Iran towards Israel were tracked crossing Iraqi airspace.
Sirens have sounded across Israel as a warning to people, while the Israeli military announced in a post on X that Israel’s civil and public security guidelines had been changed to “essential activity” only as of 3am local time (00:00 GMT).
“The guidelines include: a ban on educational activities, gatherings, and workplaces, except for essential businesses,” it said.
Israel’s transport ministry confirmed that it has closed the country’s airspace for arrivals and departures until further notice.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed late on Thursday that the US was not involved in the strikes, as he urged Iran not to target American interests or personnel in the region.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” he added.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, DC, Alan Fisher, said developments over recent days indicated that US President Donald Trump “was told that there was going to be some sort of strike”.
“[Just] 24 hours ago, the United States announced that it was going to start moving nonessential personnel out of the embassy in Baghdad [in Iraq], and also recommended that others in embassies around the region could also leave if they wish,” he said.
Fisher said President Trump did not “want Iran to get a nuclear weapon”, but he was “hoping” that nuclear talks would be able to avert a conflict.
“The big question now, of course, is how the United States reacts to any response from Iran. If they side with Israel, that suggests that the nuclear talks are done,” Fisher said.
“[US Special Envoy to the Middle East] Steve Witkoff still intends to hold another meeting with the Iranians at the weekend. Of course, it’ll be up to the Iranians to decide whether or not they want to go,” he added.
Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday that his country would target US military bases in the region if nuclear talks break down and the US launches attacks.
“Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all US bases are within our reach, and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh told reporters.
Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of nuclear talks since April as Trump seeks a deal that would place constraints on Iran’s uranium enrichment.
