Israeli Media: 200 fighter jets, 300-400 airstrikes, launched on Iran
Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear programme and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days.
Israel’s military says 200 fighter jets have been used. In retaliation, Iran has launched over 100 drones toward Israeli territory, Israel’s military said.
General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, was killed in the attack. He was among the country’s most powerful figures. The attack also killed Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military officer.
Netanyahu said “Operation Rising Lion” struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists, and what he called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles programme.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes. Before the attack, President Donald Trump said he did not want Israel to target Iran as US negotiations on a nuclear deal continue.
Israel’s military says 200 fighter jets have been used in its ongoing strikes on Iran.
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“More than 100 targets have been struck across Iran,” IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said during a live briefing, adding that “over 330 various munitions” have already been dropped.
Defrin said Israel’s strikes were “part of a precise and synchronised operation” and that its pilots were “still striking military targets and targets from the nuclear programme across different areas in Iran.”
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The US has issued a security alert for US government employees in Israel and their families, as the country braces for potential retaliation from Iran after Friday morning’s strikes.
“Due to the current security situation, the U.S. Embassy has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to shelter in place until further notice,” the advisory read.
It added that US citizens should have a “continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness,” and should know the location of their nearest shelter in case of emergency incidents like mortar, rocket or missile fire.
“The security environment is complex and can change quickly,” the advisory read.
READ ALSO: Iran threatens to target US bases if nuclear negotiations fail
The heart of Israel’s strikes on Iran is Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has long accused Iran of violating its non-proliferation obligations.
On Thursday, for the first time in almost 20 years, the IAEA passed a resolution declaring Iran in breach of those obligations.
US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003. Iran denies ever having one.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity, could maintain a stockpile of uranium of 300kg and was permitted to use only very basic IR-1 centrifuges – machines that spin uranium gas at high speed for enrichment purposes.
A year after US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal, Iran gradually abandoned all limits it put on the programme and began enriching uranium to up to 60% purity – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
US sanctions have dealt a heavy blow to Iran’s economy but have not destroyed it. Israel’s assassinations in recent years of top Iranian officials – including a pre-eminent nuclear scientist – have also failed to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Iran has said its right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable.
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