✕ Close Aerial bombardment rocks Tel Aviv as Israel-Iran conflict escalates

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Hundreds of ballistic missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel, marking the start of Tehran’s response to intensive Israeli strikes.

The Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran and said it is operating to intercept the threat.

Israel has ordered its entire population to remain close to “protected spaces” like bomb shelters – with air sirens sounding out in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has said Iran “crossed red lines” when it launched missiles into civilian areas in Israel.

“We will continue to protect the citizens of Israel and ensure that the ayatollah regime pays a very heavy price for its criminal actions,” he said.

Following the retaliatory strikes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel initiated a war and it would not be allowed to do “hit and run” attacks without grave consequences.

Earlier today, Israel said 200 fighter jets took part in strikes on more than 100 targets in Iran overnight in an escalation that threatens to spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran destroyed the above-ground pilot fuel enrichment plant of the Natanz nuclear facility, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said during a UN Security Council meeting on Friday.

That part of the plant produced uranium enriched up to 60%, Grossi said.

The electricity infrastructure and backup generators were also destroyed, Grossi said. The loss of power may have damaged centrifuges, he added.

Grossi said that there is radiological and chemical contamination inside the Natanz facility, but this contamination can be managed with appropriate measures. Outside of the facility, radioactivity is at a normal level, he said.

He noted that Iranian authorities have informed the IAEA of attacks at the Fordow and Isfahan nuclear facilities, but the UN nuclear watchdog agency does “not have enough information” regarding military activity at those locations.

The IAEA has been in “permanent contact” with the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Grossi added.

“I have indicated to the respective authorities my readiness to travel at the earliest to assess the situation and ensure safety, security and non-proliferation in Iran,” Grossi said.

From 3h ago 23.21 BST Israel braces for new waves of missiles from Iran Iran’s Fars news agency, which has links to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, says that Iran has launched a new wave of missiles at Israel, Reuters reports. That seems to match a report from a Times of Israel military correspondent, Emanuel Fabian, who posted on X minutes ago: “Sirens are sounding now sounding across Israel after Iran launched a fresh barrage of ballistic missiles.” According to Fabian, the Israeli military said it had detected “a new barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel”. Share Updated at 23.57 BST

17m ago 01.56 BST The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she had spoken with Israeli President Isaac Herzog about the escalating situation in the Middle East. “I reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself and protect its people. At the same time, preserving regional stability is vital. I urge all parties to act with maximum restraint and work to de-escalate the situation. Diplomatic efforts are crucial to preventing further escalation,” she wrote in an update on X. Share

51m ago 01.23 BST UN chief Antonio Guterres called for Israel and Iran to halt their escalating conflict, after the two countries exchanged a barrage of missiles. “Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” Guterres wrote on X. Share

1h ago 01.08 BST The Israeli military’s home front command has said citizens can leave shelters across the country but should remain near them after the army intercepted a new wave of Iranian missile attacks on Israel. “It is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country and to remain near them,” the command said on Saturday. Agence France-Presse also reported the military as saying in a separate statement that dozens of missiles had been fired in the latest salvo from Iran. “Some of the missiles were intercepted,” it said. Search and rescue forces are currently operating in a number of locations across the country in which reports of fallen projectiles were received. View image in fullscreen The trace of a projectile is seen before hitting Tel Aviv early on Saturday. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP Share

1h ago 01.00 BST Two projectiles hit the Mehrabad airport area in the Iranian capital, AFP reports Iran’s Fars news agency as saying. Share

1h ago 00.47 BST Fire and heavy smoke was billowing from Mehrabad airport in Tehran early on Saturday, an Agence France-Presse journalist said, as local media reported an explosion in the area. The local ISNA news agency shared a video showing columns of heavy smoke rising from the area of the airport in the Iranian capital’s west, AFP said, while the Mehr news agency reported a “blast” there. Share

2h ago 00.34 BST A woman has been killed in Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier tonight, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing Hebrew media outlets. The woman was critically injured and later succumbed to her wounds, the Times cited the reports as saying. It said shortly beforehand that seven people had been hurt in the Iranian missile barrage, according to Hebrew media. This is Adam Fulton picking up our live coverage Share

2h ago 23.58 BST Israeli media reports suspected Iranian missile impact in Tel Aviv Israeli media reports monitored by Reuters say that a suspected Iranian missile struck Tel Aviv. Images on a live video stream from the Associated Press appeared to show a huge explosion in the Israeli city about 45 minutes ago. A clip of what appeared to be the same strike at about 1.14am local time, taken from Israel’s Channel 12 livestream, was posted on social media by a Palestinian photojournalist. لحظة سقوط احد الصواريخ على تل ابيب قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/kf3YPY3yxn — Hisham Abu Shaqrah | هشام أبو شقرة (@HShaqrah) June 13, 2025 According to the New York Times visual investigation team, some social media images posted on Telegram showed “a strike hitting a part of central Tel Aviv where a number of military facilities are located, including the headquarters of the Israeli Defense Forces”. Prominent in footage of the strike was the Marganit Tower in the Kirya area of Tel Aviv, a landmark in the center of the city that is close to the Israeli military’s headquarters. Share Updated at 00.07 BST

3h ago 23.29 BST Séamus Malekafzali, a freelance journalist who writes about the Middle East, points to video uploaded to social media just more than an hour ago that is said to show Iranians cheering as they watch anti-aircraft guns responding to the Israeli attack on Tehran. Iranians in Tehran (including one with a Houthi banner) applaud and cheer as they watch Iranian air defenses fend off Israeli attacks in the sky tonight. pic.twitter.com/PyLYH1GuQ6 — Séamus Malekafzali (@Seamus_Malek) June 13, 2025 Share Updated at 23.58 BST

3h ago 23.21 BST Israel braces for new waves of missiles from Iran Iran’s Fars news agency, which has links to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, says that Iran has launched a new wave of missiles at Israel, Reuters reports. That seems to match a report from a Times of Israel military correspondent, Emanuel Fabian, who posted on X minutes ago: “Sirens are sounding now sounding across Israel after Iran launched a fresh barrage of ballistic missiles.” According to Fabian, the Israeli military said it had detected “a new barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel”. Share Updated at 23.57 BST

Warning sirens sounded across Israel on Friday as Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles in a retaliatory attack after Israel launched overnight airstrikes. A second round of missiles targeted Israel a few hours later. Some made it through Israel’s missile defense system, causing damage and injuries, though the full extent of the damage is not yet clear.

In the first round, about 100 missiles were fired from Iran in two salvos, officials said. Israel has a robust missile defense system known as the Iron Dome, which intercepted most of the missiles, the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF reported a limited number of hits on structures, some from interception failures.

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. Tomer Neuberg / AP

Video and photos show a number of buildings damaged or on fire. The IDF reported that 21 people had been injured and two were in serious condition.

Dozens more missiles came in the next wave, and again the IDF said some, but not all, were intercepted. “Search and Rescue forces are currently operating in a number of locations across the country in which reports of fallen projectiles were received,” the military said.

Israeli troops evacuate residents from damaged buildings following Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes against Israel, which destroyed numerous buildings and damaged vehicles at the Ramat Gan area of Tel Aviv,l on June 14, 2025. Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images

A U.S. official and a White House official confirmed to CBS News that the United States helped Israel intercept Iranian missiles.

During the strikes, U.S. troops at two bases in the Middle East were ordered into bunkers. Troops at Union III in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, and Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria spent about an hour in the bunkers, CBS News confirmed.

Fire and smoke rise from a building, reportedly hit by a missile fired from Iran, in central Tel Aviv on June 13, 2025. JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

The retaliatory action from Iran came after Israel launched over 200 airstrikes on Iran, continuing a major operation that began overnight, IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Friday. Israel’s airstrikes are continuing, Defrin said.

Iran’s U.N. ambassador said Friday that 78 people were killed and more than 320 were injured in Israeli attacks.

Israel first launched airstrikes on Iran early Friday and announced its operation was targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, scientists and senior military commanders.

Tehran responded by launching more than 100 drones at Israel on Friday morning, Israel’s military said. Defrin said earlier Friday that Israel’s air defenses had worked to “intercept the threats.” Later Friday, an Israeli military official told reporters that while the threat wasn’t over, Israel had managed to intercept many of Iran’s UAVs.

“Throughout the day, we once again demonstrated our ability to remove threats in a coordinated, precise and daring manner,” Defrin said Friday night local time.

In a televised statement on Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Iranian Armed Forces would respond fiercely to the strikes and leave Israel “helpless.”

Shortly after the statement, the IDF confirmed that its fighter jets had “completed a strike on the Iranian regime’s nuclear site in the Isfahan area.” Ishafan is in central Iran. The strike “dismantled a facility for producing metallic uranium, infrastructure for reconverting enriched uranium, laboratories and additional infrastructure,” the IDF said.

U.S. not involved in Israel’s strikes, Rubio says

The U.S. was not involved in Israel’s strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding a warning that “Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”

The State Department informed multiple U.S. allied governments in the region Thursday in advance of the Israeli strikes and intelligence operations in Iran, four sources told CBS News. Rubio personally reached out to a number of them, sources said.

The main message conveyed by the Trump administration in those messages was that this was not a U.S. operation and did not involve U.S. assets, and that the U.S. preferred diplomacy to military force.

President Trump said in a post Friday morning on his Truth Social platform that he had given Iran “chance after chance” to make a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, but that despite his warnings to Tehran that the alternative would be “much worse” than anything seen before, “they just couldn’t get it done.”

“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Mr. Trump said. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”

In a later post on Friday, Mr. Trump said he “gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”

Israel has intercepted virtually every Iranian weapon launched in previous large-scale attacks by the Islamic republic. The retaliatory action by Iran was long anticipated and well planned for, Defrin said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday on Iranian TV that the country would “strongly take action” against Israel in response to the attacks, promising “a severe, wise and strong answer.”

“The Iranian nation and the country’s officials will not remain silent in the face of this crime, and the legitimate and powerful response of the Islamic Republic of Iran will make the enemy regret its foolish act,” he said.

Israel says it destroyed Iran’s air defenses, killed top commanders

Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the IDF had begun “Operation Rising Lion,” with a massive wave of airstrikes against dozens of Iranian nuclear sites, military commanders and research scientists, saying the goal was to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

Like Netanyahu, Defrin, the IDF spokesman, called the attack on Iran preemptive in a video statement delivered Friday, saying Israeli intelligence had uncovered an Iranian “plan to destroy Israel that has taken shape in recent years.” He said that plan involved Iran “racing towards a nuclear bomb,” working to double or triple its ballistic missile stockpile, and continuing to “finance, arm, and operate its proxies throughout the Middle East against the State of Israel.”

“I can confirm that the senior security leadership of the Iranian regime has been eliminated in the strike: the Iranian Chief of Staff, [Mohammad] Bagheri; the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, [Hossein] Salami; and the Head of the Emergency Command, [Gholamali] Rashid,” Defrin said, adding that other commanders had been killed and that Israeli would provide further updates. He said Israel had “targeted and struck the Iranian regime’s aerial defense arrays.”

Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images

The IDF said its operation would continue for days, but that the first wave consisted of 200 Israeli fighter jets dropping “over 330 different munitions,” to hit more than 100 targets in Iran.

“The breadth and scale of these strikes — against senior Iranian officials and other military facilities in addition to nuclear sites — suggest this operation is intended to not just dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, but also cripple any potential military response and even to destabilize the regime,” Matthew Savill, director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a British military think tank, said in a statement.

“Israel has once again demonstrated its considerable conventional military superiority, and the size of the force allegedly assembled for this series of attacks represents the overwhelming bulk of their longer-range strike aircraft. They have the ability to conduct multiple such rounds of strikes, but operating for an extended duration over this considerable range will stretch even the Israeli Air Force,” Savill said.

Firefighters extinguish a fire in a building that was destroyed in an Israeli attack on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. MAJID SAEEDI / Getty Images

Savill said Iran’s response “might be delayed or split into multiple phases, but their main weapon will be ballistic missiles, which have the best chance of inflicting damage on Israel, whereas drone and cruise missile attacks will face more extensive Israeli defenses. Israel operations have therefore targeted air defenses and ballistic missile sites to forestall this.”

Savill said that if Iran “believes the U.S. or others were involved” in the Israeli strike, then their retaliation could include targeting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, and American air facilities in Qatar, “though both would widen the conflict to drag in others.”

NATO chief urges de-escalation, says nuclear clash “not close”

Iranian state media said the Israeli strikes had hit several cities, including in the capital of Tehran and the city of Natanz, a key center for Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The IDF said it struck Iran’s uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area.

“The underground area of the site was damaged,” the IDF said in a statement. “This area contains a multi-story enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and additional supporting infrastructure. In addition, critical infrastructure enabling the site’s continuous operation and the Iranian regime’s ongoing efforts to obtain nuclear weapons were targeted.”

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, said in a series of social media posts that its director-general, Rafael Grossi, had been in contact with Iranian authorities on Friday, who told him the country’s highly sensitive and highly secured Fordo nuclear site “has not been impacted” by the Israeli strikes. Later Friday, Reuters reported that two explosions had been heard near the site and that state media said Iranian air defenses had shot down an Israeli drone near the facility.

The IAEA also said Iran’s “Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant had not been targeted and that no increase in radiation levels has been observed at the Natanz site.”

Rescue teams work outside a heavily damaged building, targeted by an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran, June 13, 2025. AFP via Getty

On Friday, during a visit to Sweden, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters that “this was a unilateral action by Israel. So I think it is crucial for many allies, including the United States, to work as we speak to de-escalate.”

Despite the ongoing attacks, Rutte said he believed the region was “not close” to a possible nuclear conflict.

While there have been no claims that Iran has yet built a nuclear weapon, Israel is believed to have multiple warheads, though it has never formally confirmed nor denied its status as a nuclear-armed nation.

Iranian officials quickly threatened retaliation to the attack, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Israel “should await a harsh response.”

The IDF said in a statement before Iran’s retaliatory strikes that it had prepared for “a campaign on the frontline and on the home front.”

Netanyahu said Israel’s strikes against Iran, “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

Shortly after Israel’s strikes, the U.S. Embassy in Israel ordered American personnel to shelter in place.

A day beforehand, the Trump administration ordered non-emergency U.S. personnel to leave Iraq and allowed U.S. military family members to leave the Middle East voluntarily.

Risk of an escalating regional conflict

Israel has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in recent years, while Iran has backed foes of Israel, including the militant group Hamas.

In April of last year, Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel after a strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus was widely attributed to Israel, but the Israeli military intercepted the vast majority of the weapons.

Six months later, Iran launched more missiles at Israel, which retaliated with strikes on Iranian sites.

Friday’s back-and-forth could escalate to be among the most severe clashes between Israel and Iran, which have been adversaries for decades. Mr. Trump warned earlier in the week that the strikes could snowball into a “massive” conflict.

Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, said in a statement Friday that the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen could play a role in the Iranian response to Israel.

“With Iran currently weakened and humiliated, this marks the first time the Houthis will be called upon to repay decades of Iranian investment and support,” Al-Muslimi predicted. “Following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis have effectively become Iran’s first line of defense against Israel — an increasingly central role.”

Al-Muslimi said the Houthi response could extend beyond retaliatory strikes on Israel itself.

“Strikes in the Red Sea will likely resume, the ceasefire with the United States may unravel, and we shouldn’t be surprised if Saudi Arabia and the UAE are dragged back into direct conflict in Yemen,” Al-Muslimi said. “Attacks by the Houthis on U.S. military bases in the Gulf, the Horn of Africa, and naval forces at sea are also highly plausible.”

Fabian Hinz, an air warfare expert at London’s International Institute of Strategic Studies, told the Associated Press that Iran’s current capabilities are potentially “more threatening to the U.S. military than to Israel.”

Iran has a “huge arsenal” of shorter-range missiles, Hinz said, and there are a number of U.S. military bases in the region. He said Iran also has “lots of anti-ship capabilities.”

“Think of the Iranian shipping threat as similar in quality to the Houthi threat, but much larger in quantity,” Hinz told the AP.

Israeli attack casts doubt on fate of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks

The Israeli strikes and Iranian counterattack came amid efforts by President Trump to strike a new deal with Iran to limit the country’s nuclear ambitions — an idea Israel has long been dubious of.

The U.S. and Iran were set to hold talks Sunday, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News. There was no immediate comment from any high-ranking Iranian officials that those plans would change after Israel’s attack, but some reports in Iranian media outlets indicated Iran would likely no longer participate in the negotiations.

“With Israel’s actions, the sixth round of negotiations with the United States will probably not be held,” Iranian lawmaker Aladdin Boroujerdi, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said, according to Iranian media.

Michal Ben-Gal, Seyed Bathaei, Jennifer Jacobs, Olivia Gazis and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

contributed to this report.

Iran-Israel Conflict Live Updates: Israel has struck Iran’s nuclear sites.

In an unprecedented strike, Benjamin Netanyahu targeted the heart of Iran’s nuclear facilities and senior military leaders. The move has plunged the Middle East into a fresh era of uncertainty, with the possibility of a wider regional war now breaking out.

Israel has dubbed its strikes against Iran – Operation Rising Lion. Explosions were reported across Tehran early Friday.

Why did Israel attack Iran? The attack came after tensions between Iran and the international community escalated sharply after Tehran announced the activation of a third nuclear enrichment facility. The announcement came just hours after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued its first formal censure against Iran in two decades, criticising its failure to meet nuclear non-proliferation commitments.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the attack was on “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.” He asserted strikes would continue “for as long as it takes to remove this threat.” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir emphasised the urgency of the operation, saying, “We had reached the point of no return. Freedom is granted to those willing to fight for it.”

Iran vows retaliation: Tehran is preparing a ‘harsh and decisive’ response. The country’s officials confirmed that discussions on the nature and timing of the retaliation are underway at the highest levels of leadership.

US position: United States has distanced itself from the Israel attacks, claiming it was neither involved nor assisted the strikes. Donald Trump told Fox News, “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership, that [who] will not be coming back.”

Advisory for Indians: With the situation rapidly intensifying, concerns over regional instability have surged. The Indian Embassy in Israel has advised its nationals to remain vigilant, avoid unnecessary travel, and stay close to safety shelters. “In view of the prevailing situation… all Indian nationals in Israel are advised to adhere to the safety protocols,” the mission posted on X. After closure of airspace several flights have been diverted.

Israel Iran Conflict Live Updates: Stay up to date with all the latest updates and breaking news from the region as middle east heads into a dangerous nuclear warfare.

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