Israel launches air strikes against Iran commanders and nuclear sites

Israel has launched dozens of air strikes against Iran targeting its nuclear programme, military facilities and killing its top two commanders in a devastating large-scale attack that pushed the Middle East into a new war.

Images on Iranian state television said the Natanz site in central Iran, one of the country’s two main nuclear plants, was struck around 4.15am and showed thick black smoke rising from the area.

On his Truth Social platform on Friday, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that the next “already planned attacks” on it would be “even more brutal”, adding that “Iran must make a deal [on its nuclear programme], before there is nothing left”.

“No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he wrote.

Trump added that he had warned Iran that Israel had a “lot” of lethal US-made military equipment “with much more to come — And they know how to use it”.

After massive explosions rocked Tehran at about 3.30am local time on Friday, state television also showed smoke rising from the main command headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the regime’s most powerful military force, in eastern Tehran.

Iran’s state news agency said several senior military figures including Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed.

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed, state television reported. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent physics professor, and Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s atomic organisation, were also killed, the state news agency said.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, spiked as much as 12.5 per cent before paring back to trade 9 per cent higher at $74.45 a barrel in London following the strikes. Global stocks fell, with S&P 500 futures down 1.2 per cent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, saying it targeted Natanz, the republic’s “leading nuclear scientist” and its ballistic missile plants.

An Israeli military official said dozens of strikes were launched. Another official said the attacks could last for as long as two weeks.

In an indication that it was seeking to establish air supremacy, the Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out a large-scale strike against Iran’s air defences.

Israeli security officials added that Mossad operatives had smuggled explosive drones and precision weapons into Iran that were then used to target missile launchers and surface-to-air missile systems.

The IDF added that Iran had launched approximately 100 drones towards Israel, which Israel was working to intercept. Iran did not confirm it had launched any retaliation.

The US said it was not involved in the attack, which came ahead of a sixth round of negotiations on Sunday between the Trump administration and Iran in an effort to resolve the nuclear crisis.

Trump said on Thursday that Washington was “fairly close to a pretty good agreement”, adding that he did not want Israel to attack Iran because it could “blow” the chances of a deal.

But Netanyahu, who had been lobbying the US to support military action against Iran, said in a video statement that Tehran was buying time, alluding to US and Israeli demands that Iran halt its nuclear enrichment programme.

“That is why we have no choice but to act and act now,” Netanyahu said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel “should expect a severe punishment”.

“The Zionist regime, through this crime, has created a bitter and painful fate for itself — one it will certainly face,” he said. “With God’s permission, the powerful hands of the Islamic republic’s armed forces will not leave it unpunished.”

The strikes drew swift condemnation from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkey. Saudi Arabia said the attack violated international laws.

Iranian officials also said they held the US responsible for the assault. Earlier this week Tehran reiterated warnings that the republic could also target American bases across the region if it was attacked.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement Washington was “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-defence,” Rubio added. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”

The strike follows a months-long stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme, as Tehran has for several years been enriching uranium close to weapons grade.

Both Israel and the US have vowed to prevent the republic developing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes, but it has the capacity to produce sufficient fissile material required for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks.

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the UN nuclear watchdog was “closely monitoring the deeply concerning situation in Iran” after Natanz was struck.

He said the agency was in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels.

The UN atomic watchdog’s board on Thursday declared Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, the first such censure in two decades.

The strikes cap nearly two years of conflict across the Middle East that began with the war between Israel and Hamas triggered by the militant group’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel.

Additional reporting by Jamie Smyth and Steff Chávez in New York