Israel attacks Iran's nuclear and missile sites, prompts drone-strike retaliation :CoS of Iranian armed forces dead

PTI, DUBAI, JUNE 13, 2025 :  Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday in strikes that targeted the country's nuclear programme and killed at least two top military officers, 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.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning that “severe punishment” would be directed at Israel.

Hours later, Israel's military said it had begun intercepting Iranian drones launched in retaliation. An Israeli official said the interceptions were taking place outside of Israeli territory, but did not elaborate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

Iraq said more than 100 Iranian drones had crossed its airspace, and a short time later neighboring Jordan said its air force and defence systems had intercepted several missiles and drones that had entered its airspace for fear they would fall in its territory.

Israel's attack on Iran hit several sites, including the country's main nuclear enrichment facility, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air.

The leader of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was confirmed dead, Iranian state television reported, a development that is a significant blow to Tehran's governing theocracy and an immediate escalation of its long-simmering conflict with Israel.

The Chief of Staff of Iranian armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, was also confirmed dead by Iranian state television. Other top military officials and scientists were believed to have been killed.

In Washington, the Trump administration, which had cautioned Israel against an attack during continued negotiations over Iran's nuclear enrichment programme, said that it had not been involved and warned against any retaliation targeting U.S. interests or personnel.

Still, it seemed likely the U.S. suspected an attack could be in the offing, 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.

Israeli leaders cast the preemptive assault as a fight for the nation's survival that was 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 soon.

“It could be a year. It could be within a few months," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 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.

Israel is believed to have carried out numerous highly secretive attacks on Iranian soil over the years, though it has rarely acknowledged them. Most have been aimed at Iran's nuclear programme, though Iran has also accused Israel of targeting its natural gas pipelines and of assassinating Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Over the past year, Israel has also been targeting Iran's air defences, hitting a radar system for a Russian-made air defence battery in April 2024 and surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October.

Some 200 Israeli aircraft took part in Friday's operation, hitting about 100 targets, Israeli Army Chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said, adding that the attacks were ongoing.

In the aftermath, Defrin said Iran had launched more than 100 drones toward Israel and that "all the defence systems are acting to intercept the threats.”

Israel, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan shut down their airspace to all flights as a precaution.

Khamenei issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.

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.

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,” the Israeli leader 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 programme and its ballistic missile arsenal.