The potential for an all-out war between Israel and Iran has increased today after Benjamin Netanyahu’s country this morning attacked Tehran, which is Iran’s capital
Israel has today attacked Iran’s capital Tehran – targeting the country’s nuclear programme.
General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed during Israel’s overnight strikes. Air-raid sirens rang out as Israel declared a state of emergency, following the violent attacks on several nuclear and military sites across Tehran and surrounding areas.
The potential for an all-out war between two bitter Middle East adversaries has increased as tensions were already high over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
“This is not a one-day attack,” an Israeli military source told CNN, describing the attacks as “preemptive, precise, combined offensive”. Fatalities and injuries are likely, though exact figures for each have yet to be confirmed by authorities.
Iran has temporarily closed its airspace over Tehran, and all departures and arrivals have been suspended at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, which is near Tel Aviv.
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Black smoke seen over Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility
Black smoke rose today over Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, though it wasn’t clear how bad the damage was.
Iranian state television briefly showed the live picture with a reporter. Natanz is partially above ground, partially below ground, with multiple halls of centrifuges spinning uranium gas for its nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israel targeted the site in Friday’s attack. Natanz previously has been targeted by the Stuxnet cyberattack and multiple sabotage campaigns likely carried out by Israel.
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Australia and New Zealand condemn strikes
Australia and New Zealand’s governments have condemned the Israeli strikes. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “alarmed by the escalation” between Israel and Iran, which she said risked further destabilizing an already volatile region.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the strikes were “a huge concern” for his government and “potentially catastrophic” for the Middle East. “The risk of miscalculation is high,” he said.
The two countries were among five that enacted travel and financial sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers Wednesday, accusing them of “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Iranian state TV says head of Revolutionary Guard is feared dead
Iranian state television says the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, is feared dead after an Israeli attack.
It added that one other top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead. The report offered few other details.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centres within the country’s theocracy. It also controls Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is ablaze
An Israeli attack on Iran has set the headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard ablaze, state television reported Friday.
A reporter on air said he was unable to get closer due to the intensity of the fire in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Multiple sites in the capital had been hit in the attack, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted both sites of and officials leading Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal.
Netanyahu says Israel struck nuclear and missile sites