Live Updates: Israeli Strikes Wipe Out Iran’s Top Military Chain of Command
Israel attacked bases and nuclear sites across Iran multiple times. Iran vowed a harsh response, and launched at least 100 drones in an initial wave.
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Israel launched a stunning series of strikes on Friday morning against Iran’s nuclear program, killing three of the nation’s security chiefs. The wide-ranging attack prompted fears that long-simmering tensions between the heavily armed rivals were spiraling into a full-blown regional war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel described the attack as a last resort to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, which Israel views as an existential threat. In addition to Iran’s nuclear program, Israel targeted and killed top Iranian officials and nuclear scientists, as well as attacking long-range missile facilities and aerial defenses.
Residents of Tehran weathered a night of terror and shock, reeling from explosions across the Iranian capital and from the news that senior military commanders and top-security nuclear and military bases had been attacked by Israeli fighter jets.
Long lines were forming at gas stations and grocery stores were filling up as Iranians prepared for uncertain times. As of Friday morning, the government had not given a complete tally of casualties and only said that a number of civilians had been killed, including children. Dozens were injured.
Where Israel attacked Iran
Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Friday that Beijing is “deeply concerned” about Israel’s strike on Iran and opposed the “violating” of “Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.” He called on all parties to avoid escalating tensions and said China would play “a constructive role in promoting the easing of the situation.”
Jordan’s military said it had intercepted a number of missiles and drones that entered the country’s airspace on Friday morning. It said it had assessed that the missiles and drones were likely to fall in Jordanian territory, including populated areas. The statement from the military did not specify where the drones and missiles came from.
The Israeli military has begun intercepting the retaliatory wave of drones fired by Iran outside of Israeli territory, said a military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to comply with protocol.
Leaders of Israel’s major opposition parties — including bitter critics of Prime Minister Netanyahu — struck notes of unity over the attack on Iran. “Israel executed a first-rate strategic operation tonight. In this historic hour, we stand united behind the defense establishment, and I want to send strength to the political leadership,” wrote Benny Gantz, a major Netanyahu rival.
The attack rippled through transportation links throughout the region. The airspace over Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Israel was largely clear of airplanes, with flights to and from the Persian Gulf heavily concentrated across northern Saudi Arabia, according to data visible on Flightradar24. Emirates Airlines announced on its website that it was cancelling all flights serving Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site and Fordow fuel enrichment plant have not been affected, Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief, said in a statement, citing updates from the Iranian authorities.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said his government was engaging with its partners to de-escalate the situation. “We urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently,” he said in a statement. “This is a dangerous moment,” Britain’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, said in a separate statement, urging restraint by both sides.
Iran announces on state television it will not participate in nuclear negotiations with the United States on Sunday and until further notice.
The commander in chief of Iran’s military, Mohammad Bagheri, was killed during the Israeli strikes on Friday morning, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. Bagheri was Iran’s second highest commander after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His death was earlier reported by semi-official Iranian media.
Israel launched a series of strikes on Tehran on Friday morning, dealing a major blow to Iran’s chain of command by killing its top three generals, according to Iranian state media and officials.
The Israeli military confirmed the deaths of the three Iranian commanders.
Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that there has been no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz nuclear site, and that the Bushehr nuclear power plant has not been targeted, Rafael Grossi, the organization’s chief, said in a statement.
The Israeli military says 200 warplanes participated in the overnight attack in Iran, dropping hundreds of bombs across the country and striking over 100 targets. The attack on Tehran was the biggest since the Iran-Iraq war decades ago.
Israel also said that it had killed the top military leadership of Iran, confirming reports from Iran state media and officials. Among those killed were Mohammad Bagheri, the Iranian chief of staff and Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
It appears that Iran has launched its first wave of response. Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said Iran launched more than 100 drones toward Israel in the past few hours.
President Trump told Fox News anchor Bret Baier that he had prior knowledge of Israel’s plans to target top Iranian leaders. Baier said he spoke with Trump shortly after Israel struck Tehran.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We’ll hopefully get back to the negotiating table,” Trump said, according to Baier. “There are several people in leadership in Iran who will not be coming back.”
Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission announced the temporary closure of the country’s airspace, citing potential risks from the ongoing escalation in the region.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli attack on Iranian soil, adding it was “a blatant violation of international laws and norms.”
As morning broke in Israel, the streets, normally bustling on a Friday with shoppers preparing for the Sabbath, were eerily quiet. Expecting an Iranian counterattack, possibly in the coming hours, some people had headed out before dawn to stock up on food from 24-hour groceries and lined up at gas stations. But many others were confused about how to proceed, having been told by officials to remain close to protected areas and bomb shelters and to leave home only to buy essential items.
Despite the Trump administration saying the Israeli strikes were unilateral and without American involvement, Iran’s foreign ministry said the attack could not have happened without “coordination and authorization” from the United States. The ministry said the United States, as Israel’s main supporter, would also be responsible for the consequences.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, still intends to participate in talks in Oman on Sunday with Iranian officials, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
It was unclear whether Iran planned to send its officials to Oman this weekend.
Oman, which has been mediating the nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, said the Israeli strikes are “dangerous and reckless,” and a threat to the ongoing efforts to find a diplomatic solution. Oman was set to host a meeting between Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, and Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday. It is unclear if that meeting will happen now.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the assault on Iran has been a success. Israelis should prepare to remain for relatively long spans in reinforced bomb shelters when Iran retaliates militarily, he said.
Footage posted to Telegram and verified by The Times shows smoke rising from a rural area in Bid Kaneh, Iran. Bid Kaneh hosts several missile development and production sites likely connected to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to Fabian Hinz, an expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.
Social media footage verified by The Times show flames and thick black smoke billowing from the Natanz nuclear-enrichment complex shortly after a series of explosions were reported at around 4:18 a.m. local time. Another explosion was reported around 5:56 a.m.
Telegram posts said there were up to 10 blasts at the facility, but it is unclear whether the Israeli strikes hit the main complex or any of the air-defense batteries surrounding it.
Bracing for Iran’s response, some Israeli hospitals said they were moving onto an emergency footing. The Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem said it was sending home patients whose condition allowed for that and was canceling all non-essential treatment.
Israel’s air force has now conducted five waves of strikes across Iran since beginning its operation before dawn on Friday, said an Israeli military official. He briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in accordance with military protocol.
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening that Israel had struck “Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz,” he was signaling the scope of his country’s ambitions in the largest strike it has ever aimed at Iran: It sought to destroy the beating heart of the Iranian nuclear program.
The Natanz facility is where Iran has produced the vast majority of its nuclear fuel — and, in the past three years, much of the near-bomb-grade fuel that has put the country on the threshold of building nuclear weapons.
Mohammed Momani, Jordan’s government spokesman, said that the kingdom will not allow its airspace to be violated, according to the state-run Petra news agency.
Jordan is located between Israel and Iran and saw Iranian ballistics missiles fly through its territory toward Israel twice last year during Iranian attacks against Israel.
Iranian media report that Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, and the second highest commander after the supreme leader, has been killed in an Israeli targeted strike. The blow to Iran’s chain of command is significant, Israel has taken out three top ranking senior commanders similar to the operations that took out Hezbollah’s command chain.
Two Iranian officials say that a third wave of attacks have started targeting radars and air defense across the country.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a statement read on state television said that Israel “should anticipate a harsh punishment. The strong hand of the Islamic Republic will not let them go,” and added that a number of senior military commanders and nuclear scientists had been killed. Khamenei did not mention the United States in his statement.
Israel’s strikes on Iran on Friday delivered a seismic blow to Iran’s chain of command, with Iranian officials and media reports saying that at least three of the top generals — including both the overall military commander and the leader of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps — had been killed.
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who is the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, was the most senior leader among the dead, according to state media. There was no immediate confirmation from the Iranian armed forces. One of General Bagheri’s deputies was also killed.
A number of Republicans in Washington are issuing stark warnings to leaders in Tehran if U.S. interests are targeted. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in a social media post that “America should have an overwhelming response,” if American personnel or installations are targeted. Vowing to destroy “all of Iran’s oil refineries and oil infrastructure” with the aim of putting “the ayatollah and his henchmen out of the oil business.”
Israel’s military strikes against Iran shook global markets, as oil prices surged and stocks tumbled on worries that the attacks could set off a broader Mideast conflict that would disrupt the world’s energy supplies and stoke inflation.
Prices of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, jumped on Friday, at one point rising 9 percent to almost $78 a barrel. In early European trading, prices moderated somewhat, to around $73 per barrel, a 5 percent gain. That was still oil’s largest gain this year.
Nour News reports that Ali Shamkhani has been severely injured in airstrikes on his home and is in a hospital in Tehran. Shamkhani was spearheading nuclear negotiations on behalf of the supreme leader.
Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed in a statement that the Natanz nuclear site had been targeted in the Israeli attacks. Officials are in contact with Iran regarding radiation levels and with agency inspectors in Iran. He calling the situation in Iran “deeply concerning.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the United States had no involvement in Israel’s unilateral strikes on Iran but had been told that Israel considered the attack necessary for its self-defense.
President Trump, who has been pushing for a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, was hosting the annual White House picnic on Thursday evening when reports of the strikes emerged from Tehran.
The spokesman of Iran’s Armed Forces, Gen. Shekarchi, said on state television that Israel and the United States will “recieve a forceful slap” and Iran’s Armed Forces are prepared and would be retaliating in force soon with counterstrikes. He said “a retaliation attack is definite, God willingly.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican leader of the House, said in a social media post that “Israel IS right—and has a right—to defend itself!” Johnson recently announced plans to travel to Israel later this month and is expected to address a special session of the Knesset in Jerusalem.
“Israel’s attack on Iran, clearly intended to scuttle the Trump administration’s negotiations with Iran, risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America,” Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut and a leading critic of Trump’s foreign policy, said in a statement.
The targets of the Israeli strike include nuclear facilities, air defense batteries, homes and headquarters of senior officials, weapons depots and laboratories. The first wave of the assault focused on senior officials. According to two defense officials familiar with the initial assessments of the Israeli attacks in Iran, there is increasing likelihood that Israel succeeded in killing Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, along with several senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and leading scientists involved in the country’s nuclear program.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told an anxious country in an early morning video statement that Israel had attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities to ward off an existential threat, vowing that the battle would continue for “as many days as it takes.”
Israeli forces attacked Iran’s “main enrichment facility in Natanz,” as well its ballistic missile capabilities and top Iranian nuclear scientists, Mr. Netanyahu said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, says in a statement that “Israel’s action to cripple Iran’s nuclear program is a service to all civilized people.” As supporters of Israel wonder how far the Trump administration will go to defend the country from an inevitable Iranian counterattack, the influential group adds: “America must stand with our ally at this critical moment as it takes action to protect its families and the world from a nuclear-capable Iran.”
In Tel Aviv, Ichilov Hospital, one of Israel’s biggest medical centers, has opened an emergency underground hospital and has begun transferring departments to the subterranean location, the hospital said in a statement.
Iran’s state media report two prominent nuclear scientists, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi, were killed when Israel attacked their homes in targeted assassinations. Israel has assassinated several Iranian nuclear scientists in covert operations.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all government employees and families to shelter in place across Israel, according to an official statement.
Iran has closed its airspace until further notice, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
The White House just released President Trump’s schedule for Friday. He has a National Security Council meeting at 11 a.m. in the Situation Room. We are now two hours after the strikes and Trump has still not said a word. The White House has not yet responded to our questions, including whether the United States will help defend Israel against expected Iranian counterstrikes.
Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, warned in a televised address that Iran’s response was likely to be different than previous counterattacks, adding, “I don’t promise successes alone.”
Netanyahu and his defense minister, Israel Katz, decided on Monday that the attack would begin this Friday, in coordination with the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, according to an official statement.
Tabriz, a city located in northern western Iran with an Azeri population and a center of commerce, is currently under attack at least five explosions heard, according to Iranian media.
The commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Hossein Salami has been killed in the Israeli strikes, Iranian state television reports. The deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces, Gen. Gholamali Rashid, and Fereydoun Abbasi, a nuclear scientist, have also been killed, it adds.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that at least a dozen civilians were killed in the Israeli strikes in Tehran alone.
Israel has closed its airspace to civilian traffic. All flights arriving at or departing from Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, have been cancelled.
Israel attacked at least six military bases around Tehran, including Parchin, and residential homes at two highly secure complexes for military commanders and multiple residential buildings around Tehran, in what appears to be targeted assassinations, according to four senior Iranian officials.
A critical question is whether the U.S. will play an extensive role in defending Israel from an Iranian counterattack, as the Biden administration did when those countries exchanged blows last year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made no mention of such a role in a statement tonight, saying that “our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.” Some prominent Trump supporters are already calling for the United States to stay out of the conflict. Without U.S. assistance, Israeli defenses could be overwhelmed by a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles, leading to major damage within Israeli cities.
State television is broadcasting footage from the Mahalati complex where military commanders live and showing buildings still on fire and emergency crews still putting out the fire. The state television reports that two residential buildings have collapsed, causing fatalities and injuries, and that cars have burnt and windows have shattered in the area.
Israel appears to have entered a new phase in its attacks on Iran’s critical personnel with these strikes. For years, Israel targeted In Iran’s senior military leadership and many of its top nuclear scientists individually. Some were killed by sticky bombs attached to their car doors. The country’s chief nuclear scientist was killed in a robot-assisted assassination. But some of the strikes tonight appeared to be part of an effort to kill such personnel en masse.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, criticized the Israeli strikes. “Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” he said. “These strikes threaten not only the lives of innocent civilians, but the stability of the entire Middle East.”
Senator Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he stood with Israel and was praying for its success in strikes that he called a “defensive action.” In a statement, he added a warning to Tehran: “I am also praying for the brave U.S. service members in the Middle East who keep America safe —Iran would be foolish to attack the United States.”
Mehdi Rahmati, a conservative political analyst in Tehran, said, “There is now a real chance of a regional war,” he said. “Our allies are still capable. Hezbollah has missile and drone capacities and the Houthis are very capable.” He also numbered an Iraqi miltiia among Iran’s allies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday ordered the State Department to form a new Middle East task force, drawing from many different offices in the agency, to handle needs arising from the crisis in the region, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the action. The purpose of the task force is to be in contact with U.S. citizens during hostilities, offer public messaging and conduct diplomacy.
Netanyahu said Iran has “taken steps that it has never taken before — steps to weaponize this enriched uranium.”
He did not provide specific evidence or additional detail about those steps, but added, “if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months.”
Crude oil prices have jumped sharply following the Israeli attack, with the Brent crude oil future price jumping 8 percent to $75 a barrel. Iran lies on the northern side of the Strait of Hormuz, at the exit of the Persian Gulf, positioning Iran to block much of the oil exports of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and smaller Persian Gulf states if it wishes to do so in retaliation for the Israeli strike.
Netanyahu said in a video statement that Israel’s operation would continue “for as many days as it takes.”
Netanyahu has made preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon his signature platform for decades. He spoke in historic terms early Friday, saying in an address in Hebrew that Israel was facing “difficult days, but great days” ahead. “Together, with God’s help, we will ensure Israel’s eternity,” he added.
The strikes on Iran have had an immediate impact on civilian flights in the region, especially over or near Tehran. “Some flights are routing around the city or diverting, but there are many flights currently transiting Iranian airspace,” the aviation tracker Flightradar24 said. The aviation tracker said flights had started to divert away from Iran as a whole.
An Israeli military official briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity in line with army rules said that Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran had been advancing a secret program to assemble a nuclear weapon and said that the country now had enough material to rapidly assemble nuclear bombs. He added that the project was reaching a point of no return.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the United States was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.” He added that “Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.”
He ended his statement with a warning to Iran against any form of retaliation aimed at the U.S. forces in the region: “Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, just issued his first remarks since the Israeli attack on Iran, in a video statement. Netanyahu said that Israel had attacked Iran’s main nuclear “enrichment facility in Natanz,” as well as “Iran’s leading nuclear scientists.” He accused Iran of advancing its nuclear program, calling it “a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”
Netanyahu said Israel had acted to stop Iran “buying for time” amid ongoing talks with the United States. He praised President Trump for “leadership” without commenting on whether the United States had backed the strike.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said Israel could not “allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon that would be a danger to Israel and the entire world.”
“We have no choice,” he said in video shared with reporters. “We are operating against an imminent and existential threat.”
A U.S. defense official said that air defense systems were being deployed to protect the more than 40,000 American troops scattered at more than a dozen military bases in the region, but declined to say what role the United States was taking in Israel’s defense in the event of Iranian retaliation.
Shortly after the strike against Iran on Friday, Israel’s defense minister said the country was bracing for a retaliatory missile and drone attack “in the immediate time frame.”
The defense minister, Israel Katz, said he had signed an order declaring a “special emergency” and called on the public to follow guidelines from the authorities, and to remain in protected areas.
Some 40,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East to defend American bases and interests in the region, including the defense of Israel. The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, armed with F-35 fighter jets, is currently in the Arabian Sea.
But those forces were on higher alert on Thursday in preparation for possible retaliatory strikes by Iran. Military planners were weighing how and when to move some military aircraft out of the immediate area, to reduce the chance of them being struck by retaliatory fire.
Oil prices have surged to their highest level in months on concerns that Israel’s strikes on Iran could disrupt oil supplies. Benchmark prices in the United States topped $72 a barrel, up nearly 6 percent. Iran produces roughly 3 percent of the world’s oil, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Residents in the Iranian cities of Isfahan, Arak and Kermanshah, which house military and industrial complexes, have reported hearing explosions.
One of the more than 1,000 people who were participating in a virtual town hall discussion about about diplomacy with the United States when the strikes began was Mohammadreza Karchi, a prominent sociologist. He is among those still connected to the call, and says that explosions continue to rock Tehran and terrified residents in his neighborhood, Satar Khan, have swarmed to the streets, some in their pijamas.
A senior Iranian official said that a compound in Tehran where senior military commanders live, Shahrak Shahid Mahalati, had been attacked and that three residential buildings had been demolished.
An Israeli military official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to comply with protocol, said the strikes in Tehran were aimed at targets related to Iran’s nuclear program and the Iranian regime’s long-range missile capabilities. The official added that Israel was conducting dozens of strikes in multiple areas of Iran.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said in a post on social media early on Friday morning that he was at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and would remain all night as he was “closely following” the situation.
A man standing on a roof in Tehran, Mohammad Jamali, said that he could see two Israeli jets attacking an airbase of the Revolutionary Guards. “What I can see is two massive flames and smoke coming from two military bases in eastern Tehran,” he said.
Tehran’s sky has been cleared of civilian flights. An Iranian journalist, Mohsen Salehikhah, said in an interview that he lives in the eastern part of Tehran and heard five explosions.
The Israeli strikes followed months of extensive preparations for the attack, which accelerated after Israel’s success in the war against Hezbollah and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, according to two Israeli defense officials familiar with the details of the operation.
The officials said that prior to the strike, Israel committed to the Trump administration that it would not attack Iran without first notifying the United States.
A U.S. official on Thursday confirmed Israeli strikes in Iran were underway. The official said that no U.S. aircraft were involved in the attack, but offered no other details on scope, size or locations of intended targets.
President Trump and his most senior aides knew these strikes were likely coming, according to three people briefed on the matter. It’s unclear what — if anything — Trump did to try to deter Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from taking this action.
Just a few hours ago, President Trump was arguing for negotiations between the U.S. and Iran for a nuclear deal to continue. He said he did not want to see Israel strike Iran. His main negotiator, Steve Witkoff, was preparing for talks overseas on Sunday in Oman.
Iran’s state television and the Tasnim news agency are showing images of explosions across Tehran, with smoke and fire billowing from buildings.
The Israeli military announced at 3 a.m. local time that schools across the country would be shuttered, mass gatherings would be banned and workplaces would be closed “except for essential sectors.”
In central Jerusalem, with sirens ringing out, more than 100 people are huddling in an underground parking lot.
While U.S. officials believed such an Israeli strike could be imminent, it has not been clear what President Trump had said directly to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in recent days. But Trump made clear earlier today that, while he knew a strike was possible, he did not favor Israel going forward while the administration was still trying to negotiate a deal to contain Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has consistently talked about how no new wars began during his first term. And a number of Trump’s supporters do not want to see the United States drawn into another conflict in the Middle East.
A senior Iranian official said that Tehran had been attacked. The official said that Iranian fighter jets had taken off and that Israeli planes were attacking Iran.
Over 1,000 Iranians were listening to a live town hall discussion, on the social media app Clubhouse, about diplomacy with the United States when the strikes began. One participant, Farhad Khorrami, said he lives in Tehran and that the sky was lighting up and the sounds of blasts were coming back to back.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said that Israel had made a “preemptive strike” against Iran and declared a special emergency across Israel. A missile and drone attack against Israel and its civilian population “is expected in the immediate timeframe,” he said.
Sirens began ringing out in Jerusalem and other cities.
Residents of Tehran reported hearing the sound of back-to-back explosions that rattled windows and shook the ground.
Reporting from Prague
The International Atomic Energy Agency declared on Thursday that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the U.N. watchdog has passed a resolution against the country in 20 years.
The long-anticipated censure vote by the agency’s board of governors in Vienna came at a time of high tension over Tehran’s nuclear program, with American and European officials saying they believe that Israel may be preparing an imminent military strike against Iran.
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