Iran has vowed retaliation after Israel targeted it with military strikes, killing several Iranian commanders and six nuclear scientists, in an operation Jerusalem said was focused on preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
Iran fired about 100 drones towards Israel in response, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that it should expect “severe punishment”.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks on Iran, named Operation Rising Lion, would continue ‘for as many days as it takes’ to remove the threat it said Iran posed.
Israel said it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders, prompting promises of retaliation from Iran.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see,” Iran’s leader said.
The US has said it is not involved in Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites, an escalation that is threatening to send the region deeper into Revolu
U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio released a statement soon after the strikes from Israel began, saying Tel Aviv had taken “unilateral action” and warning Iran to not retaliate against the US.
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” he said.
BBC reports that “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.”
Israel declared a state of emergency saying the country expected counter-attacks from Iran “in the immediate future”.
BBC reported that Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in Israel’s strikes early on Friday, the most senior Iranian leader to die in the attacks.