On the night of Friday, June 13, Israel attacked Iran, striking key nuclear and military sites, missile bases and senior leadership. Multiple waves of Israeli strikes were reported across Iran over several hours, starting at around 3 a.m. and ending in the morning. At the same time, a state of emergency was declared in Israel in response to a possible Iranian response. The Times of Israel writes about this.
Thus, the publication notes that the operation, called "Rising Lion ", was directed against Iran's nuclear program (according to Israeli military estimates, Iran already had enough enriched uranium to create 15 nuclear bombs), as well as against its ballistic missile production plants and its military potential in general.
Israel said it had "no choice" but to attack Iran, adding that it had gathered intelligence that Tehran was approaching a "point of no return" in its quest to obtain nuclear weapons.
"The Iranian regime has been working for decades to obtain a nuclear weapon. The world has attempted every possible diplomatic path to stop it, but the regime has refused to stop," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that one of the targets of the strikes on Iran was the enrichment facility in Natanz, one of the country's two underground nuclear facilities (the other is in Fordo).
According to media reports, at the same time as the airstrikes, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad carried out a series of covert sabotage operations in Iran against the Islamic Republic's air defense systems and missile facilities.
In addition, Iranian state media reported that the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, was killed in an Israeli strike. State television also confirmed the deaths of nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in May, media outlets, citing sources, reported that the Israel Defense Forces were preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. The operation was being planned in parallel with diplomatic efforts by the administration of US President Donald Trump to persuade the Islamic Republic to sign a nuclear deal.
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