Israel’s military on Friday morning says Iran has fired about 100 drones towards its territory, after Israel launched a major attack on Iran overnight
The IDF says it carried out strikes on nuclear sites in Iran and claims Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami and other commanders have been killed
Iranian state TV said residential areas in Tehran were hit and civilians were among those killed – including children – though this could not be independently verified
The attack is part of Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, adding Iran was a threat to “Israel’s very survival”
Israel has declared a state of emergency, saying the country expected counter-attacks “in the immediate future”
Meanwhile, Iran has accused the US of supporting Israel’s attack, which US strongly denies. US President Trump told Fox News he was aware of the strikes beforehand but emphasised that the US played no part.
What has been hit so far
Information about what and who has been impacted by Israel’s strikes is still unfolding, but here is what is being reported so far.
Israel’s military says it has struck “dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran”.
Among the sites hit is Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, in the centre of the country. Iranian state TV said it was struck several times, with pictures showing black smoke billowing from the site.
Natanz operates thousands of advanced centrifuges – equipment used for enriching uranium gas – which are located dozens of metres underground for protection. It is unclear at this point how deep Israel’s attack reached.
The New York Times reports that at least six military bases around Tehran as well as homes of military commanders and multiple residential buildings have also been hit, citing senior Iranian officials.
The heads of Iran’s armed forces have been killed, Iranian state TV has confirmed. They were Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Iran’s most elite military force – and Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, overall commander of the Iranian army and the IRGC.
At least two nuclear scientists – Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, the president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran – have also been killed, Iranian state TV says.
Who has been killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran?
‘Operation Rising Lion’, which Israel said was meant to thwart Iran’s nuclear programme, has reportedly killed several senior Iranian military figures and nuclear scientists.
Here are the people who are confirmed to have been killed, according to Iranian state media:
Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Gholamali Rashid, the commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters
Fereydoon Abbasi, nuclear scientist and former head Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization
Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, another nuclear scientist involved in Iran’s nuclear weapons programme
Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran’s armed forces
Ali Shamkhani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been seriously injured, according to Iranian reports.
This is a developing story. Updates as we get them.
With BBC report
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