Israel conducts airstrike in Iran
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Israel conducts airstrikes on Iran’s Tehran, declares special ‘state of emergency’
Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes on Iran on Friday, with explosions being heard across Iran’s capital Tehran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “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.”
People in Tehran, Iran, awoke to the sound of the blast. State television acknowledged the blast. Israel Katz said schools would be closed in the country on Friday.
There was no immediate word on what was struck.
Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising over 2%.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “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. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
As the explosions in Tehran started, President Donald Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes, news agency Associated Press reported.
Israel launches strikes on Iran: What we know so far:
Israel Launches Airstrikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites
State of emergency has been declared in Israel. There are fears that Iran may retaliate swiftly in response to the attack. Reports indicate that there have been fires and explosions at an IRGC military site in Tehran. An Israeli military official stated that the Air Force has completed five rounds of airstrikes in Iran. The Israeli airstrikes targeted not only Iranian facilities but also military sites belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Israel has made it clear that the attack could continue for several days.
The Beginning of the First Round The Israeli Air Force has confirmed that the airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities are merely the beginning of the first round. Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel’s actions against Iran could continue for several days.
#BREAKING Netanyahu says Israel struck at ‘heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme’ — says Israel operation against Iran to ‘continue as many days as it takes’ — AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 13, 2025 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Sites Also Targeted The Israeli airstrikes targeted not only Iranian nuclear facilities but also military sites belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Reports indicate that there have been fires and explosions at an IRGC military site in Tehran following the Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli airstrikes targeted not only Iranian nuclear facilities but also military sites belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Reports indicate that there have been fires and explosions at an IRGC military site in Tehran following the Israeli airstrikes.
BREAKING Fire, smoke at Iran Revolutionary Guards command site in Tehran, state TV reports pic.twitter.com/AQ1dxoMdMw — AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 13, 2025 Five Rounds of Airstrikes So Far An Israeli military official stated that the Air Force has completed five rounds of airstrikes in Iran. According to local media, further explosions were heard in Tehran a short time ago. An Israeli military official stated that the Air Force has completed five rounds of airstrikes in Iran. According to local media, further explosions were heard in Tehran a short time ago.
Israel conducts ‘preemptive’ strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites
Israel on Friday said it conducted “preemptive’ strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear sites. Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X: “This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat” Iran’s Supreme. Leader Khamenei said the Israeli regime sealed a “bitter and painful destiny for itself’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. General Abolflazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces, has said the Islamic Republic’S response to the attacks will be heavy and definitely see that the Zionist regime will definitely see a harsh response. “Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world,” IDF said. Israel launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival, the military said in a statement. Israel will continue to act in defense of its citizens, it added.
In an X post, IDF said: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.”
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.
Dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including… pic.twitter.com/vtx98P9564 — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
“Dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran,” IDF said.
IDF said Iran is inching closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world,” IDF said.
IDF said: “The State of Israel has no choice but to fulfill the obligation to act in defense of its citizens and will continue to do so everywhere it is required to do so, as we have done in the past.”
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.
——
Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: pic.twitter.com/XgUTy90g1S — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 13, 2025
Speaking on the strikes, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X: “This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei says Israel will face punishment
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Israeli regime sealed a “bitter and painful” destiny for itself by conducting the airstrikes.
“The regime should await a harsh response,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in his statement as quoted by IRNA.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime sealed for itself a bitter and painful destiny and will definitely see that [destiny] brought upon it,” he said.
Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces, has said the Islamic Republic’s response to the attacks will be heavy.
General Hossein Salami killed
Iran’s state media confirmed that Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami and other military and civilian figures were killed in the Israeli strikes. As per reports, several Iranian nuclear scientists were also killed.
The commander of the IRGC was martyred in a strike that Israel carried out in the early hours of Friday, June 13, reported Tasnim news agency.
The news agency reported that Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid and his son have been killed in the strikes.
US denies involvement in the strikes
The US government has denied its role in the strikes conducted by Israel on Iran.
Statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
“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. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its… pic.twitter.com/5FFesh3dkF — The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2025
“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. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” US Secrteary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” he said.
Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites, killing military commanders in major attack
“I don’t want to say what it is going to be, but it would be “I think it would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this.” “He is particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on the U.S. and U.K.’s national security, as well as the state of the nation, and the world. “It is not the same as one person or one place, it is a whole nation or a nation,” he said. He said it was “a lot more than one thing” and that he would “not be the same way he would be feeling it, or the same thing that he is feeling it.“He said it is ““a bit more than a nation or one nation, or a state or a region, or even a nation.�” He said he would not “be the same person or state that he or she is feeling” or “the same thing he or he is thinking it is the same or that it is not that way he or the state or the nation or the country is feeling the same.�
The United States, which had been urging Israel to hold off on any attack as the Trump administration continues talks with Iran on its rapidly advancing nuclear program, said it was not involved and was not providing assistance.
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The strikes, which the Israeli military said involved more than 200 fighter jets, were aimed at “Iran’s main enrichment facility” and scientists working on Iran’s nuclear program, as well as targets associated with the country’s ballistic missile program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
He said it was “a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival” and that it would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Among those killed was Mohammadhossein Bagheri, Iran’s most senior military official, multiple Iranian state news outlets reported. Bagheri, who was chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, had a status equivalent to that of Qassem Suleimani, the high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force whom President Donald Trump ordered killed in a drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.
Tasnim, the state media arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported that Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of the IRGC, was also killed in an attack at the Tehran headquarters.
The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed that Bagheri and Salami had been killed, in what is likely to be a big blow to Iran’s security forces.
Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed in an Israeli attack Friday, Iranian state media reported. (Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Israeli strikes also killed Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, a top official in the IRGC; Fereydoon Abbasi, a nuclear scientist and former atomic energy chief; and Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi, a nuclear scientist, Iranian state media reported.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed retaliation, saying Israel “has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself, and it will certainly face it.”
Though the U.S. said Israel had acted unilaterally, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attack could not have happened “without the coordination and approval of the United States.”
“Therefore, the American government, as the main supporter of this regime, is also responsible for the dangerous consequences of these actions,” he said.
A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he condemned any military escalation in the Middle East.
“He is particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran while talks between Iran and the United States on the status of Iran’s nuclear program are underway,” the spokesperson said.
Asia-Pacific markets were down and U.S. stock futures slid in the wake of the Israeli attack. Oil prices surged 9%, CNBC reported, putting them on course for their largest single-day gains in five years.
Israel’s move appeared to be a significant break with the Trump administration, which had been set for a sixth round of nuclear talks with Iran in Oman this Sunday. Trump said Thursday that he would prefer an agreement over an Israeli strike and that “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”
Smoke billowing from a site in Tehran reportedly targeted by Israel early Friday. (Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps / Sepah News via AFP – Getty Images)
His administration appeared to distance itself from Israel’s choice to strike Iran, saying the country took “unilateral action.”
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
He said Israeli officials had communicated to Washington that Israel’s action was “necessary for its self-defense.”
“President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” Rubio said.
Trump’s national security team monitored the strikes on Iran in real time in the Situation Room, five U.S. officials told NBC News.
Israel became more serious about attacking Iran as Washington and Tehran appeared closer to reaching a preliminary agreement that included provisions about uranium enrichment that Israel views as unacceptable.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Friday that it had “launched a preemptive, precise, combined offensive” that included “strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.”
“Today, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the statement continued. “Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world.”
The attack was criticized by senior Democratic lawmakers, such as Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
“Israel’s attack on Iran, clearly intended to scuttle the Trump Administration’s negotiations with Tehran, is further evidence of how little respect world powers — including our own allies — have for President Trump,” he said on X.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., called the attack “a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence.”
“I urge both nations to show immediate restraint, and I call on President Trump and our international partners to press for diplomatic de-escalation before this crisis spirals further out of control,” he said in a statement.
Republicans were generally supportive.
“I will say I regret that we have come to this breaking point,” said Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “However, under no circumstance can Iran get its hands on a nuclear weapon.”
The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, formally found this week that Iran is not complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years.
Director General Rafael Grossi said on X that the IAEA was closely monitoring the “deeply concerning” situation in Iran. He said it had confirmed that Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was among the targets.
A big worry for the United States is possible retaliation by Iran against American personnel or assets in the region. After the Israeli attack began, the State Department advised employees at the U.S. Embassy in Israel and their families to shelter in place.
U.S. officials had earlier announced the voluntary departure of nonessential employees from the region.
Israel and Iran also traded attacks in October, starting with an Iranian attack on Israel after Israel launched an attack on Lebanon that killed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Officials said most of the 200 missiles Iran launched toward Israel were intercepted.
Israel responded with three waves of strikes on Iranian military sites, though it avoided nuclear and oil facilities in what appeared to be a limited attack.
Israel-Iran conflict LIVE: Iranian Paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Chief killed in airstrikes, Israel declares ‘state of emergency’
Israel conducted an airstrike on Iran on Friday. Massive explosions were heard in parts of the Middle Eastern country’s capital Tehran. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a special state of emergency, citing possible retaliation from Iran. All educational institutions, including schools and colleges, would remain closed today. Brent crude oil prices surged by more than 2%. The White House has yet to release a statement, while two unnamed US officials, according to Reuters, denied any US involvement or support in the incident. Donald Trump advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay any military action against Iran, citing ongoing US negotiations.
Israel-Iran conflict LIVE: Iranian Paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Chief killed in airstrikes, Israel declares ‘state of emergency’
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has announced an state of emergency across the entire country.
By Joy Pillai Edited by Joy Pillai
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Israel conducts airstrikes on…, declares special ‘state of emergency’ because…
Tehran: Israel conducted an airstrike on Iran on Friday. Massive explosions were heard in parts of the Middle Eastern country’s capital Tehran. According to Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a special state of emergency, citing possible retaliation from Iran, Axios reported. Panic spread among the citizens of Tehran, who awoke to the sound of explosions, with news of the blasts dominating local news channels. The Israeli Defence Minister stated that all educational institutions, including schools and colleges, would remain closed today.
Following an attack, Brent crude oil prices surged by more than 2%. The White House has yet to release a statement, while two unnamed US officials, according to Reuters, denied any US involvement or support in the incident.
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Hindustan Times quoted officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, who declined to share more details about the current situation. When Israel Air Force stated raining bombs on Tehran, United States President Donald Trump was on the lawn of the White House talking to the congress members. It is currently unclear that he had been informed about the military advance by Tel Aviv as he was seen busy with the dignitaries, as reported by Associated Press.
Israel’s Airstrikes On Iran: What We Know So Far
Israel Air Force conducted airstrikes on Iran’s capital Tehran on Friday.
Smoke was visible rising from the Chitgar neighborhood in western Tehran, but the cause of the incident remained unidentified.
According to an Israeli military official, Tel Aviv targeted Iranian nuclear sites.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the airstrike, without saying what it targeted.
Amidst escalating tensions surrounding Iran’s accelerating nuclear program, Iran faced international condemnation. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors issued its first censure of Iran in two decades, citing a lack of cooperation with IAEA inspectors.
Its been several years that Israel has warned it wont allow Tehran to make nuclear weapons.
The United States has initiated precautionary measures in the Middle East, including the withdrawal of some diplomats from Baghdad and the provision of voluntary evacuation options for U.S. military families in the region.
Donald Trump advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay any military action against Iran, citing ongoing US negotiations. Trump stated that initiating military action could jeopardize the potential for a diplomatic agreement.
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