Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded on Friday night across Israel following what the country’s military spokesman said was the firing of missiles from Iran.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in retaliation for Israel’s biggest ever attacks on Iran, blasting Iran’s huge underground nuclear site at Natanz and wiping out its top military commanders.
Iranian state media said the country’s forces downed two Israeli fighter jets and detained one pilot. “At least two Israeli fighter jets were shot down in Iranian skies,” the official IRNA news agency reported, without elaborating.
Israeli rescuers said that seven people were injured on Friday in the centre of the country, shortly after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israel.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12, Eli Bin, the spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, said that seven people were lightly injured in central Israel. Images on Channel 12 showed what appeared to be a building hit by a missile.
Iranian media declared that Tehran’s response to Israel had “officially begun,” marking a sharp escalation in regional tensions.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they carried out attacks against dozens of targets in Israel in retaliation for the latter’s biggest attacks ever against Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected calls on Tehran to show restraint following Israel’s large-scale deadly attack on the Islamic republic.
Araghchi “rejected calls for Iran to show restraint in the face of Israeli aggression” in call with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.
Iranaian senior official told Reuters that nowhere in Israel will be safe, adding that the country’s revenge will be painful.
Air raid sirens blared across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Friday as Israel’s military confirmed the launch of multiple missiles from Iran. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) instructed civilians to seek shelter immediately and remain there until further notice.
Loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with AFP and Reuters correspondents reporting booms consistent with missile interceptions. Iran’s state media confirmed that hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in response to recent Israeli strikes.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the country was actively intercepting the incoming threats and emphasized that Israel could defend itself without foreign assistance.
A televised briefing by the spokesperson was abruptly cut short, reportedly due to an incoming missile targeting central Israel. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that the country’s armed forces would respond “with all might” to Israeli attacks that killed several senior commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians across multiple Iranian cities.
In a televised address to the nation, Khamenei said the Islamic Republic “will not compromise” in the face of Israeli aggression, promising that the Iranian military would leave the “scoundrel Zionist regime miserable.”
“This crime will not go unpunished,” he said, warning that Israel must now prepare for “severe punishment.”
The Supreme Leader said that Israel initiated a war and said it will not be allowed to do “hit and run” attacks without grave consequences. The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured.
Earlier, Israel launched another wave of attacks on Iran, targeting key military sites in Tabriz, located in the northwest and Shiraz in the south, according to Iranian media reports.
This latest wave of Israeli attack follows an earlier assault on Iran’s nuclear sites, missile factories and military facilities on Friday.
Israel claims its aggression is aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, despite Iran’s long-standing insistence that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the attack, vowing that Israel would face severe punishment. Khamenei stated that Iran’s armed forces would ensure retribution and that the martyrs’ successors would continue their work. He warned Israel of a “bitter and painful fate” in the wake of the aggression.
Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of any retaliation.
Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions at several sites and the country’s main nuclear sites, missile factories and military facilities, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
Six nuclear scientists in Iran were killed in Israel’s attack. The semi-official Tasnim news agency identified the victims as Abdulhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Seyyed Amirhossein Faqhi, Motablizadeh, Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi, and Fereydoun Abbasi.
At least 50 people injured in the Israeli attack have been taken to Chamran Hospital in Tehran’s Tajrish district, with 35 of the injured being women and children, Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement that Israel had “unleashed its wicked and bloody hand in a crime against Iran and that it would receive “a bitter fate for itself”.
Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency led a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official. These operations were aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile sites and its air defence capabilities.
Iranian state media reported that at least six nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in Israeli attacks in Tehran.
However, the Iranian nuclear agency has stated that the Israeli attacks on the nuclear facilities, saying that no one was killed at the site that was hit.
In a statement on Friday after the Israeli regime’s airstrikes, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed that damages were inflicted on parts of various complexes in the attack on the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan enrichment complex
“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
“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.”
An Israeli military official said Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets, including the facility at Natanz in central Iran. The official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defence units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
“Following the pre-emptive strike by the State of Israel against Iran, a missile and UAV (drone) attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate time frame,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and “prepared across all borders”.
“We are amidst a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat, by an enemy who is intent on destroying us,” he said.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and “prepared across all borders”.
“We are amidst a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat, by an enemy who is intent on destroying us,” he said.
Israeli Minister Gideon Saar was holding a “marathon of calls” with counterparts around the world regarding Israel’s attack on Iran, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The United States said it had no part in the operation, which raises the risk of a fresh escalation in tensions in the Middle East, a major oil-producing region.
President Donald Trump told CNN in a brief phone call Friday morning that the United States “of course” supports Israel and called the country’s strikes on Iran overnight “a very successful attack,” while warning Iran to make a nuclear deal.