In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, Israel launched a major attack early Friday, resulting in explosions heard in Tehran.
The strikes, which Israel say targeted nuclear and military facilities, mark a new chapter in the long-standing tensions between the two nations.
Iranian state media reported that the leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and two leading nuclear scientists were killed in the attack.
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This action follows increasing concerns over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Israel views as an existential threat.
Here is a timeline of some significant events in the hostilities between the two countries over the past 15 years:
Iran's nuclear program is a primary target
2010 — The Stuxnet computer virus is discovered and widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation. The virus disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges.
2018 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel obtained tens of thousands of pages of data showing Iran covered up its nuclear program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015. An ex-Mossad chief confirms the information was obtained by more than a dozen non-Israeli agents from safes in Tehran in 2018.
2020 — Alleged Israeli attacks against Iran’s nuclear program are stepped up significantly after the disintegration of the 2015 nuclear deal meant to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
July 2020 — A mysterious explosion tears apart a centrifuge production plant at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran blames the attack on Israel.
November 2020 — A top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran. A top Iranian security official accuses Israel of using “electronic devices” to remotely kill the scientist, who founded Iran's military nuclear program in the 2000s.
11 April 2021 — An attack targets Iran’s underground nuclear facility in Natanz. Iran blames Israel, which does not claim responsibility, but Israeli media widely reports the government orchestrated a cyberattack that caused a blackout at the facility.
16 April 2021 — Iran begins enriching uranium up to 60%, its highest purity ever and a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
June 2022 — Iran accuses Israel of poisoning two nuclear scientists in different cities within three days of each other, though circumstances remained unclear.
Mideast wars
7 Oct 2023 — Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip storm into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, beginning the most intense war between Israel and Hamas. Iran, which has armed Hamas, offers support to the militants.
14 February 2024 — An Israeli sabotage attack causes multiple explosions on an Iranian natural gas pipeline running from Iran’s western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province to cities on the Caspian Sea.
1 April 2024 — An Israeli airstrike demolishes Iran’s Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people including two Iranian generals.
14 April 2024 — Iran launches an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel, firing over 300 missiles and attack drones in response to the Israeli airstrike in Damascus. Working with a US-led international coalition, Israel intercepts much of the incoming fire.
19 April 2024 — A suspected Israeli strike hits an air defense system near an airport in Isfahan, Iran.
31 July 2024 — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is assassinated by an apparent Israeli airstrike during a visit to Tehran. Israel had pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the Oct. 7 attack.
27 September 2024 — Israeli airstrike kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who went to Lebanon in 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces, Hezbollah was the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islam.
1 Oct 2024 — Iran launches its second direct attack on Israel, though a US-led coalition and Israel shoot down most of the missiles.
16 Oct 2024 — Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.
26 Oct 2024 — Israel openly attacks Iran for the first time, striking air defense systems and sites associated with its missile program.
30 April 2025 — Iran executes a man it said worked for Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency and played a role in the killing of Revolutionary Guard Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei in Tehran on May 22, 2022.
