Jerusalem/Tehran/Washington, June 13 (EFE).- Israel struck more than 100 targets in Iran early Friday, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists for which Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has vowed “severe punishment.”
In a seven-minute address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel had launched Operation Rising Lion “to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival” and which will “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
A building hit by Israeli air strikes north of Tehran, Iran, 13 June 2025. EFE/EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Claiming Iran has produced enough enriched uranium for nine atom bombs, he said Israel had “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.”
He added that Israel also struck Iran’s ballistic missile program, calling it an “intolerable threat.”
In a mid-morning statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said more than 200 of its fighter jets, “guided by precise intelligence,” struck more than 100 targets across Iran, including the hideouts of senior operatives in the Iranian military leadership.
It claimed the strikes killed “the three most senior military commanders of the Iranian regime”: Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami, and Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya (Emergency Command), Gholam-Ali Rashid.
Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a special state of emergency throughout the country in expectation of retaliation in the “immediate future.”
A ban on educational activities, gatherings, and workplaces, except for essential sectors, is in place and the country’s airspace has been closed until further notice, the IDF reported.
President Isaac Herzog accused Iran of radicalizing and destabilizing the region “with its proxies” and hoped Israel’s attacks “will change the trajectory of our region towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.”
Tehran vows punishment
In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of retaliation.
“The Zionist regime opened its dirty and bloody hand to a crime in our beloved country this morning and revealed its evil nature by striking residential centers more than ever before. The regime must expect a severe punishment,” he said, according to Tasnim.
He confirmed the deaths of “several commanders and scientists,” and said “with this crime, the Zionist regime prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself and will definitely receive it.”
The IRGC confirmed the assassination of Salami in an Israeli strike in Tehran, as well as “a number of his bodyguards and colleagues,” it said in a statement carried by IRNA, which also reported the death of Bagheri and Rashid.
On Thursday, Salami had said the Islamic Republic was prepared for “war at any level” and would respond to any aggression.
The IRGC said that it was “ready to respond decisively and harshly to the aggression of the Zionist enemy.”
File photo taken on Nov. 18, 2023 of the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Hossein Salami, speaking in Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran. EFE-EPA FILE/Abedin Taherkenareh
State media also reported the deaths of nuclear scientists Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, president of the Islamic Azad University, Fereydoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as well as four others in separate strikes.
An unknown number of civilians were also killed in attacks on residential areas in northern Tehran, IRNA said.
“Responding to this aggression is Iran’s legal and legitimate right in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation with all their might and in a manner they determine,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, calling on the United Nations Security Council to “act immediately.”
Israeli media reported mid-morning that its armed forces had begun intercepting some of more than 100 drones it said Iran launched in retaliation.
The attack began around 3.30 am local time (12:00 GMT) when loud explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and several other areas of the country, including Natanz, which hosts one of the main uranium enrichment facilities and from where black smoke was seen rising.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the Natanz site was among the targets of the attack but “no increase in radiation levels has been observed,” according to Director General Rafael Grossi.
Flights have been suspended at Imam Khomeini Airport, while Iraq and Jordan also closed their airspaces.
Israel’s move ‘unilateral’: US
While Netanyahu in his address thanked the United States for its “steadfast stance” and “ of the country,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that “Israel took unilateral action against Iran.”
A handout photo from the Israel Defense Forces showing the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Eyal Zamir (C), overseeing Israeli Army attacks against Iran from the Air Force operations room. EFE/ Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” he added.
“President Trump and the istration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
Trump has not publicly responded to the situation, but is scheduled to hold a national security meeting at 11 am on Friday morning.
On Thursday, he acknowledged that there was a possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but said that he didn’t believe it would be “imminent.”
Just over an hour before the attacks, the president had written on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he remained committed to reaching “a diplomatic solution” in the nuclear negotiations with Iran, the sixth round of which is scheduled for Sunday in Muscat, Oman.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned any military escalation in the Middle East and is “particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran while talks between Iran and the United States on the status of Iran’s nuclear program are underway,” his spokesman Farhan Haq said.
New York City authorities announced that they have reinforced security at various locations in the city linked to Israeli and Jewish communities.
The strikes on Iran come after US media outlets reported in recent days that Israel was preparing to launch an attack against the country. EFE
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