Iran Responds With Strikes After Israel Targets Nuclear Sites

The Israeli military launched a large-scale assault on Iran on Friday, marking a dramatic escalation in their protracted conflict. The strike triggered a retaliatory missile attack from Tehran, significantly heightening fears of a new war erupting in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes targeted Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility and key sites linked to its ballistic missile program. More than 200 Israeli fighter jets hit around 100 locations, eliminating a significant number of Iran’s top military commanders and senior scientists.

In a forceful response on Friday evening local time, Iran fired missiles toward Israel, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. The country's advanced air defense systems quickly activated to intercept the incoming threat.

Thick smoke filled the night sky over Tel Aviv as rockets from Iran rained down on the city, many of which were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense systems. Ahead of the retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces had urged residents nationwide to stay near shelters, limit movement in public spaces, and avoid large gatherings.

Police officers and bomb disposal units were deployed following reports of fallen missile debris, the Israeli Police said, urging the public to report any “suspicious findings” to the emergency hotline.

Israel’s emergency service, Magen David Adom, reported that it was treating 34 people who were injured in a rocket attack on the country’s central region.

In the early hours of Saturday morning local time, Iran launched another wave of missiles, according to the Israel Defense Forces. A hospital in Tel Aviv reported treating seven people injured in the renewed attack.

According to Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Ali Bahreini, Israel’s strikes have so far killed 78 people, including senior military officials, and injured 320 others. Residential buildings in Tehran were also damaged in the assault.

Loud explosions were heard across northern Tehran on Friday night, while state media reported additional strikes in Qom, a major Shia holy city south of the capital. Fars News Agency posted on X that blasts were also heard near the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility, which lies deep underground near Qom.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed swift retaliation in a televised address on Friday evening local time, declaring that Israel would be held accountable and punished for its actions.

Air defense systems were activated in central Tehran, home to the presidential office and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound, according to Iran’s news reports.

Shortly after the Israeli strikes, Iran launched over 100 drones toward Israel, said Israeli Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin. The Israel Defense Forces reported targeting missile launchers and drones launched from Iranian territory, and a military spokesperson confirmed on X that strikes had also been carried out on the nuclear facility in Isfahan, located in central Iran.

Iran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons.

The United States, which had been urging Israel to refrain from launching such an attack while the Biden administration continues nuclear negotiations with Tehran, stated that it had no involvement in the strikes and was not providing any assistance.

Three U.S. officials said Friday that the United States is assisting in intercepting Iranian missiles and projectiles targeting Israel. In recent days, the Pentagon deployed several military assets to the region, including Navy destroyers positioned off the Israeli coast to help counter expected aerial threats following Israel’s initial strike, according to another U.S. official.

President Donald Trump said he was pleased with how the strikes were carried out, praising the use of American-made military equipment. “They had the finest equipment in the world, which is American equipment,” he said.

A U.S. official also confirmed that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, reported that Iranian officials confirmed a strike on the Natanz facility, Iran’s largest nuclear site located in Isfahan, but noted that no rise in radiation levels had been detected.

Israeli Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin confirmed the strike targeted a subterranean section of Natanz, hitting critical infrastructure essential to the site’s operations and causing “significant damage.”

Other reported targets included residential complexes housing senior military personnel. One of the main buildings of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the regime, was also hit and appeared engulfed in flames on state television broadcasts.

Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military official, was among those killed in the Israeli strikes, according to multiple Iranian state media reports. As chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Bagheri held a position comparable to that of Qassem Suleimani, the Quds Force commander who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University announced on Telegram that at least five of its professors, including prominent nuclear scientist Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in the attacks. The university also reported that some family members of the faculty were among the dead, though it did not release their names or provide further details.

Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was also killed in Friday’s strikes, according to the IRGC’s media wing.

Iranian state media reported that several other high-ranking figures were among the dead, including Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, a senior IRGC official; Fereydoon Abbasi, a prominent nuclear scientist and former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization; and Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi, a nuclear scientist.

U.S. held responsible, says Iran:

Former President Donald Trump said Iranian leaders had "missed the opportunity to make a deal," though he added, "now, they may have another opportunity. We'll see."

He also hinted that some Iranian officials had attempted to reach out to him, though he did not specify who they were.

Despite these remarks, Israel’s strikes marked a sharp departure from the Trump administration’s diplomatic track, which had been preparing for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations with Iran in Oman on Sunday. The talks were derailed after Iranian state television announced that Tehran would not take part, though a U.S. official noted, “we are still hoping for talks.”

A major concern for the United States is the possibility of Iranian retaliation targeting American personnel or assets in the region. A U.S. official highlighted that hundreds of thousands of American citizens reside in Israel, alongside key U.S. military installations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the U.S. had no role in the Israeli strikes and that protecting American forces in the region remains the government’s “top priority.”

“This was an act of national preservation,” said Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday. “We acted alone—not by choice, but because we were left with no alternative.”

Danny Danon called on the Security Council to condemn what he described as Iran’s “nuclear violations” and to acknowledge Israel’s “undeniable right and responsibility to protect its people from annihilation.”

While Israel maintained that it acted alone, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the assault could not have occurred “without the coordination and approval of the United States.”

“As the primary backer of this regime, the American government bears responsibility for the dangerous consequences of these actions,” he said.

Amid rising tensions, U.S. officials had already ordered the voluntary departure of nonessential personnel from the region.

Israel and Iran have been entrenched in a long-standing rivalry since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with their conflict often playing out through Tehran’s regional proxies. In recent years, Israel has conducted airstrikes to prevent Iran’s allies from acquiring advanced weapons, while both nations have also targeted each other’s vessels in maritime confrontations.

The October 7 Hamas-led terror attack on Israel and the subsequent military offensive in Gaza further intensified the long-standing hostility between Israel and Iran. Tehran, a key supporter of Hamas, positions itself as the primary international defender of the Palestinian cause.

Israel’s resolve to strike Iran hardened as Washington and Tehran appeared to be nearing a preliminary agreement, one that reportedly included uranium enrichment terms deemed unacceptable by Israeli leadership.

This week, for the first time in two decades, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors formally declared that Iran is not complying with its nuclear obligations.

In October, Israel and Iran exchanged blows following a strike by Israel on Lebanon that killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. In response, Iran launched around 200 missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, according to officials.

Israel retaliated with three waves of airstrikes targeting Iranian military installations, deliberately steering clear of nuclear and oil infrastructure in what appeared to be a restrained response.

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