Israel strikes Iran: attacks on nuclear sites and military leaders

Tehran under attack, senior commanders and scientists killed. Netanyahu: ‘Operation for the survival of Israel’. Tehran threatens retaliation: “It will be exemplary punishment”

Israel has launched a massive military attack against Iran, striking numerous strategic targets, including nuclear facilities, military bases and prominent figures in the regime. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a response to the growing nuclear threat from Tehran and the operation will last “many days”.

The attack, carried out by over 200 fighter jets, has caused at least five deaths and fifty injuries according to Iranian media, with damage also in civilian areas of the capital. Among the dead, confirmed by the Tehran regime, are Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri and other senior Iranian officers.

Israel claimed to have eliminated six Iranian nuclear scientists, including former Atomic Energy Agency president Fereydoun Abbasi and Azad University rector Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. The raids also hit the Natanz site, the nerve centre of Iran’s nuclear programme, as confirmed by the IAEA, which nevertheless reassured that there had been no increase in radiation levels.

Netanyahu said: ‘We have struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear and missile programme. This is an act of self-defence for the survival of Israel.’ Israeli Defence Forces spokesman General Effie Defrin reiterated that the Tehran regime has a secret programme to build atomic weapons, already at an advanced stage, and a vast ballistic arsenal.

The Iranian defence minister called the attack ‘cowardly’ and ‘contrary to international law,’ accusing Israel of killing civilians and calling the country a ‘child-killing regime.’ In an official statement, he promised ‘severe punishment.’

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke of a ‘bitter fate’ for Israel, announcing harsh retaliation. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport has been closed and the population urged to stay close to shelters.

Images broadcast by Al Jazeera show gutted skyscrapers in Tehran, columns of smoke and a destroyed Iranian radar system in Piranshahr, near the Iraqi border.

Meanwhile, Iran has launched about 100 drones towards Israel. Israeli air defences, supported by a US squadron of F-15s stationed in Jordan, are attempting to intercept them. The aircraft are equipped with new anti-missile systems specifically designed to counter low-flying drones.

The situation remains extremely tense. The world is watching with concern as a conflict unfolds that risks further destabilising the entire Middle East.

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