Summary
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Israel has carried out strikes on nuclear sites in Iran, the IDF has said, with blasts heard in Tehran
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The strikes were part of Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, adding Iran was a threat to “Israel’s very survival”
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Israel has declared a state of emergency, saying the country expected counter-attacks “in the immediate future”
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Iranian state TV said residential areas in Tehran were hit and children were among those killed, though this could not be independently verified
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Iranian state media also reported that Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami was killed in a strike
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There was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
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International reaction has begun pouring in, with Australia saying it was “alarmed” by the escalation
Reports of further round of strikes on Tehran
People in Iran’s capital, Tehran, are reporting hearing explosions boom across the city again, the Associated Press reports.
Iranian state media are reporting fresh Israeli attacks in Tehran and Reuters has said that air defence fire can be heard over the city.
Israel and US will pay ‘heavy price’ for strikes, Iran says
A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces has said that the US and Israel will pay a “heavy price” for the strikes, Reuters reports.
“The armed forces will certainly respond to this Zionist attack,” said Iranian spokesperson, Abolfazl Shekarchi.
What has the reaction been in Iran?
I was up late in London when I got several messages from people I know in Tehran: “I heard some loud bangs. Have you seen any reports? Was it Israel again?”Most of the people I know couldn’t get back to sleep the whole night, and were sending videos to one another or asking each other if their district in Tehran had been hit.
This time, unlike the previous attacks in October and April 2024, verified videos show that some of the attacks were on what appears to be residential buildings in Tehran.
Instagram, Facebook, X and most other major social media platforms are banned in Iran, but people access them via VPNs and other methods to circumvent the censorship. People in Iran were even quicker to share the videos of the attacks than state media.
Iran’s state TV still tried to downplay the attacks by saying that the situation is “calm” and the fire in residential buildings is under control.
As of now, the number of casualties has not been announced by Iran, but state media has been quick to point the finger at the US, accusing them of being complicit in the attack that they say has killed children.
Iran names two nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikes
Iranian state TV has named two senior nuclear scientists killed in the Israeli strikes.
As we just reported, one is Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The AEOI is responsible for Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Abassi survived an assassination attempt on a Tehran street in 2010.
The other is Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, the president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
