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Israel launched dozens of air attacks against Iran, targeting nuclear programs, military facilities and senior commanders in a massive attack that pushed the Middle East on the brink of a new war.
Television in the Iranian province said Natanz, one of Iran’s two major nuclear power plants, was hit.
He also said several senior military personnel, including Major General Hossein Salami, the head of the elite revolutionary security guard, were killed, and notable physics professor Mohammad Medi Tehrenches and former chief of Iranian atomic organization, Feredun Abbasi.
After a massive explosion rocked Tehran at 3:30am local time on Friday, Iranian provincial television showed smoke rising from the main command headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard, the most powerful army in Iran in eastern Tehran.
The provincial television also broadcast images showing thick black smoke rising from the Natanz site in central Iran, saying it was attacked around 4:15am.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “stricken at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program,” and that it targeted the Republic’s “primary nuclear scientist” and its ballistic missile factory, Natanz.
Israeli military officials said dozens of strikes had begun.
The strike report saw oil prices skyrocket, with international benchmark Brent rising by more than 5% to $72.22 per barrel, while US Marker West Texas Intermediate rises at a similar margin of $71.24. Futures tracking the Wall Street Blue Chip S&P 500 Index fell 1.3%.
The US said it was not involved in the attack days before the Trump administration was scheduled to negotiate a sixth round with Iran to diplomatically resolve the nuclear crisis.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington was “very close to a pretty good deal,” adding that Israel doesn’t want to attack Iran.
But he also said: “It might actually help it, but you can blow it too.”
Netanyahu said in a video statement that Iran is simply “buying for time.”
“That’s why we have no choice but to act and act now,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz said he hopes Iran will retaliate with “missile and drone attacks” as Israel shuts down airspace and bans most essential rallies.
Tehran vowed to retaliate against both Israel and the United States, accusing Washington of providing “direct support” for the attack.
“Both the Zionist regime and the United States will pay a large price,” said Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekalch, a spokesman for the Iranian military.
Shekarchi claimed that the residential building was struck to target the senior appearance of the home.
Iran repeatedly warned of retaliation for the attack, and this week it could target bases across the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington “is not involved in strikes against Iran, so our number one priority is to protect the US troops in the region.”
“Israel advised us that they believe this action is necessary for self-defense,” Rubio added. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target our interests or personnel.”
The strike follows a month-long standoff on Iran’s nuclear program as Tehran has enriched uranium close to arms-grade for several years.
Israel and the United States have pledged to prevent the Republic from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran claims that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes, but it has the capacity to produce sufficient fission material needed for nuclear weapons within two weeks.
The UN Atomic Watchdog board on Thursday declared Iran in breach of such accusation of non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.
The strike thwarted a nearly two-year conflict in the Middle East that began with the war between Israel and Hamas caused by the extremist group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Last year, Iran and Israel exchanged two direct missile and drone fires, including attacks from these attacks.
Helimacroft, a former CIA analyst currently at RBC Capital Market, said the key question is whether Iran will retaliate by targeting the region’s energy supply.
“The fact that the strike occurred before Sunday’s nuclear talks between the US and Iran and the nuclear talks that followed President Trump publicly showed that they wanted to give diplomacy the opportunity to run that course,” she said.
Additional Reports by Jamie Smith and Steph Chavez of New York
