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Israel Attacks Iran Nuke, Missile Sites06/13 06:27
Israel attacked Iran early Friday in strikes that took out top military
officers and hit nuclear and missile sites, raising the potential for an
all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be
the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Israel attacked Iran early Friday in
strikes that took out top military officers and hit nuclear and missile sites,
raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East
adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since
its 1980s war with Iraq.
Simmering tensions over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program boiled over
and Iran quickly retaliated, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of "severe punishment."
Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the
globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides.
Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial
attack on about 100 targets. Two security officials said the country's Mossad
spy agency was also able to position explosive drones inside Iran ahead of time
and then activate them to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near
Tehran.
They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran as
well as strike systems on vehicles, which were activated as the attack began to
hit Iranian air defenses.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the highly
secretive missions and it was not possible to independently confirm their
claims. There was no official comment.
The Israeli attack hit several sites, including Iran's main nuclear
enrichment facility at Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the
air. Later in the morning, Israel said it had also destroyed dozens of radar
installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran.
Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders, one who
oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, one who led the
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, and another who ran the
Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Iran confirmed all three deaths, which were a significant blow to Tehran's
governing theocracy and will complicate efforts to retaliate against Israel.
Khamenei said other top military officials and scientists were also killed.
In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel, with both
Iraq and Jordan confirming they had flown over their airspace. Israel said the
drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately
clear whether any got through.
In his first public comment about the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump
again urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program,
warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks "will only get
worse."
Without saying whether he was privy to specific Israeli plans, Trump said
"there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned
attacks being even more brutal, come to an end."
"Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once
known as the Iranian Empire," he wrote. "No more death, no more destruction,
JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
Washington had cautioned Israel against an attack during continued
negotiations over Iran's nuclear enrichment program. It stressed the U.S. had
not been involved and warned against any retaliation targeting U.S. interests
or personnel.
It seemed likely the U.S. suspected an attack could be in the offing,
however, with Washington on Wednesday pulling some American diplomats from
Iraq's capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of U.S.
troops in the wider Middle East.
Israel calls attacks preemptive strikes on Iran's nuclear program
Israeli leaders cast attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that
Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country
is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran
maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
"It could be a year. It could be within a few months," Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as
necessary to "remove this threat."
"This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival," he said.
Over the past year, Israel has been targeting Iran's air defenses, hitting a
radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery in April 2024 and
surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October.
Nervous Israelis rushed to supermarkets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere
to buy bottled water and other supplies, and circulated messages on WhatsApp
groups advising each other to prepare their shelters for potential long-term
use.
In Iran, meanwhile, museums were shut down and began transferring valuable
items to secure vaults to protect them, the state-affiliated Borna news agency
reported.
Iran claims Israel targeted residential areas
Israel "opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved
country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential
centers," Khamenei said in a statement.
For Netanyahu, the operation distracts attention from Israel's ongoing and
increasingly devastating war in Gaza, which is now over 20 months old.
There is a broad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is a major
threat, and Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, a staunch critic of
Netanyahu, offered his "full support" for the mission against Iran. But if
Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily
life, public opinion could shift quickly.
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah issued a statement that
offered condolences and condemned the attack, but did not threaten to join Iran
in its retaliation. Hezbollah's latest war with Israel -- which killed much of
the group's senior leadership -- ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in
November.
Netanyahu expressed hope the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran's
theocracy, saying his message to the Iranian people was that the fight was not
with them, but with the "brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46
years."
"I believe that the day of your liberation is near," he said.
Multiple sites in the Iranian capital were hit in the attack, which
Netanyahu said targeted both nuclear and military sites. Also targeted were
officials leading Iran's nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal. The
International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that an Israeli strike hit Iran's
uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and said it was closely monitoring
radiation levels.
The strike on Iran pushed the Israeli military to its limits, requiring the
use of aging air-to-air refuelers to get its fighter jets close enough to
attack. It wasn't immediately clear if Israeli jets entered Iranian airspace or
just fired so-called "standoff missiles" over another country. People in Iraq
heard fighter jets overhead at the time of the attack. Israel previously
attacked Iran from over the border in Iraq.
Tension had been growing for weeks ahead of attacks
The potential for an attack had been apparent for weeks as angst built over
Iran's nuclear program.
Once the attacks were underway, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued an
alert telling American government workers and their families to shelter in
place until further notice.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took "unilateral action
against Iran" and that Israel advised the U.S. that it believed the strikes
were necessary for its self-defense.
"We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is
protecting American forces in the region," Rubio said in a statement released
by the White House.
Trump is scheduled to attend a meeting of his National Security Council on
Friday in the White House Situation Room, where he is expected to discuss the
conflict with top advisers.
Israel has long been determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear
weapons, a concern laid bare on Thursday when the Board of Governors at the
International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years censured Iran
over its refusal to work with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it
would establish a third enrichment site and install more advanced centrifuges.
Even so, there are multiple assessments on how many nuclear weapons Iran
could conceivably build, should it choose to do so. Iran would need months to
assemble, test and field any weapon, which it so far has said it has no desire
to do. U.S. intelligence agencies also assess Iran does not have a weapons
program at this time.
In a sign of the far-reaching implications of the emerging conflict,
Israel's main airport was closed and benchmark Brent crude spiked on news of
the attack, rising nearly 8% before retreating slightly.
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