Iran called Israel’s wave of strikes on Friday a “declaration of war”, after the Israeli military hit about 100 targets including nuclear facilities and killed senior figures, among them the armed forces chief and top nuclear scientists.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel it faced a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks, while the Iranian military said there were “no limits” to its response.
In a letter to the United Nations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described Israel’s attack as a “declaration of war” and “called on the Security Council to immediately address this issue”, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said Iran launched around 100 drones, with air defences intercepting them outside Israeli territory, while neighbouring Jordan said it intercepted drones and missiles that violated its airspace.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News he had prior knowledge of the Israeli strikes, which Israel said involved 200 fighter jets. Trump also stressed that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb”.
The United States underlined that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests, but Tehran said Washington would be “responsible for consequences”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, taking aim at nuclear scientists and the main underground enrichment facility in Natanz.
The strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”, the Israeli leader said, while the military said intelligence showed Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.
The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.
Khamenei swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed, while state media said a senior adviser to the supreme leader had himself been wounded.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the “precise targeting of senior commanders… sends a strong and clear message: those who work toward Israel’s destruction will be eliminated”.
AFP images showed a gaping hole in the side of a Tehran residential building that appeared to have sustained a targeted and localised strike.
State media said civilians, including women and children, were killed. Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists were among the dead.
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