Israel has launched another wave of attacks on Iran, targeting key military sites in Tabriz, located in the northwest, and Shiraz in the south, according to Iranian media reports.
This latest wave of Israeli attack follows an earlier assault on Iran’s nuclear sites, missile factories, and military facilities. Israel claims its aggression is aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, despite Iran’s long-standing insistence that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.
Tehran, in the meantime, vowed retaliation.
Iranian Tasnim News Agency stated that the latest Israeli blitz targetted Tabriz, with early reports indicating that an airport and nearby air bases were targeted.
Simultaneously, a missile production facility in Shiraz was struck by Israeli aircraft.
Key developments so far:
– Israel’s attacks Iran’s nuclear and military sites
– Iran’s top military officials were killed
– Israel claims to have intercepted Iranian drones
– Six nuclear scientists, several civilians were killed
– US denies involvement
– Israeli military on high alert for retaliation
– World leaders call for restraint
– Flights disrupted after Israeli attack on Iran
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei condemned the attack, vowing that Israel would face severe punishment. Khamenei stated that Iran’s armed forces would ensure retribution and that the martyrs’ successors would continue their work. He warned Israel of a “bitter and painful fate” in the wake of the aggression.Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of any retaliation.
Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami was assassinated in the attack, IRNA reported. The unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit.
At least 50 people injured in the Israeli attack have been taken to Chamran Hospital in Tehran’s Tajrish district, with 35 of the injured being women and children, Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement that Israel had “unleashed its wicked and bloody hand in a crime against Iran and that it would receive “a bitter fate for itself”.
Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency led a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official. These operations were aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile sites and its air defence capabilities.
Iranian state media reported that at least six nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in Israeli strikes in Tehran.
However, the Iranian nuclear agency has stated that the Israeli attacks on the nuclear facilities, saying that no one was killed at the site that was hit.
In a statement on Friday after the Israeli regime’s airstrikes, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed that damages were inflicted on parts of various complexes in the attack on the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan enrichment complex
“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
“Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
An Israeli military official said Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets, including the facility at Natanz in central Iran. The official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defence units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
“Following the pre-emptive strike by the State of Israel against Iran, a missile and UAV (drone) attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate time frame,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and “prepared across all borders”.
“We are amidst a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat, by an enemy who is intent on destroying us,” he said.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and “prepared across all borders”.
