The Latest: Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites, killing top military leaders and scientists
By The Associated Press
Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of 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 program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.
Israeli leaders cast the attack as 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. For years, Israel had threatened such a strike and successive American administrations had sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran’s dispersed and hardened nuclear program.
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Here’s the latest:
US fighter jets take flight to protect personnel and installations in Middle East
American fighter jets are patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.
It comes at the same time as the Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean. A second destroyer also has begun moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House.
Iran reports explosions at another nuclear site
The Fordo nuclear enrichment facility is buried hundreds of meters underground.
Nour News, which is close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that two explosions were heard from the area nearby.
Separately, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that a radar site near Tabriz was attacked, according to an official in the East Azerbaijan province.
Majid Farshi told IRNA that 11 military sites in East Azerbaijan province have been attacked, and that 18 people were killed, including one Red Crescent aid worker.
Israel’s military orders all residents to be close to protected areas and minimize movement
Israelis are on high alert bracing for a larger response from Iran, which has already launched over 100 drones toward Israel in retaliation for Friday’s attacks.
Israel says it intercepts missile launched from Yemen, setting off sirens in Jerusalem
There were no immediate reports of casualties or fallen shrapnel in Israel. A loud boom could be heard in the Holy City, possibly from Israeli interceptor fire.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen did not immediately claim the attack.
A new wave of attacks appears to have begun in Tehran
Civilian witnesses told The Associated Press they heard what sounded like loud explosions in neighborhoods in the capital’s east, west and center, while an AP journalist in the city’s north also heard a blast.
Air defense systems were heard going off Friday night in Tehran. There was no immediate acknowledgement from authorities.
Netanyahu says Israel informed US before attacking Iran
In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel told the U.S. about its plans to attack Iran in advance. “They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President Trump.”
Netanyahu says Israel’s attack on Iran was months in the making
Netanyahu said he ordered an attack plan in November 2024, shortly after the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — one if Iran’s strongest proxies. That’s when Israel forecasted Iran would start rapidly advancing its nuclear program.
In a video statement circulated to journalists Friday evening, Netanyahu said the attack was supposed to happen in April but was postponed.
Iran summons Swiss ambassador over Israeli attacks
Since Tehran and Washington don’t have diplomatic relations, Switzerland has looked out for America’s interests in Iran since the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says Isa Kameli, an assistant to foreign minister, told the Swiss ambassador that Friday’s Israeli attacks were a crime and said, “It is not possible to imagine that invasion acts by the Zionist regime have taken place without cooperation and coordination and at least green light from the U.S.”
Israel’s military begins stationing troops in ‘all combat arenas’
The military said it was calling up reservists from different military units as “part of preparations for defense and offense” as its attack on Iran continues.
The move comes as Israel braces for further counterattacks from Iran or Iranian proxy groups on Israel’s borders.
Iran says Israel will ‘deeply regret’ its attack
Israel’s targeted killings of officials and scientists were “clear instances of state terrorism,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council requesting an emergency meeting.
In the letter obtained by The Associated Press, he said Iran affirms its right to self defense under the U.N. Charter.
“This right is non-negotiable,” Araghchi said. “Israel will come to deeply regret this reckless aggression and the grave strategic miscalculation it has made.”
The Iranian minister urged the Security Council, which will meet at 3 p.m. in New York, to “take urgent and concrete measures to hold the Israeli regime fully accountable for its crimes.”
Israel seals off the West Bank
Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday. The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.
Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule. With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.
The crackdown has also left tens of thousands of Palestinians unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.
In Tel Aviv, an eerie quiet and a cancelled Pride Parade
Many Israelis are hunkered down close to home in Tel Aviv, the country’s economic hub on the Mediterranean coast.
Shops were open but the streets, beaches, and parks were mostly deserted. Earlier Friday, many people had rushed to supermarkets to buy bottled water and other supplies.
The city canceled its annual Pride Parade, which normally draws tens of thousands of people for a march and street party.
Iran is restricting the internet after Israeli attacks
Internet usage in Iran dramatically declined Friday after Iranian authorities restricted access in the country following the Israeli attacks, according to internet-access advocacy group Net Blocks.org.
The group shared the information in a graph posted to X Friday, saying their data corroborated “user reports of poor service.”
Expert says Iran poses a bigger threat to US military than Israel
Iran’s current capabilities are potentially “more threatening to the U.S. military than to Israel,” said Fabian Hinz, an air warfare expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.
That’s because there are multiple U.S. military bases in the region and Iran has a “huge arsenal” of shorter range missiles developed specifically to target U.S. bases as well as “lots of anti-ship capabilities,” Hinz said.
While Iran fired around 300 ballistic missiles at Israel last year, Hinz said, Tehran did not fire any of their short range missiles which could be used to attack U.S. bases.
“Think of the Iranian shipping threat as similar in quality to the Houthi threat, but much larger in quantity,” Hinz said.
US shifts military resources in Mideast in response Iranian retaliation for Israel’s attack
Two U.S. officials said Friday that the Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner to begin sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward, so it can be available if requested by the White House.
President Donald Trump is meeting with his National Security Council principals to discuss the situation. The two U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public.
The Hudner is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that is capable of defending against ballistic missiles.
On Oct. 1, 2024, U.S. Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.
Iran calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting
Iran’s U.N. Mission said it has asked for an emergency meeting of the Security Council following the Israeli attacks.
The emergency session is likely to take place Friday afternoon, the mission said.
Israel told Trump administration of attacks ahead of time
Israel told the Trump administration that large-scale attacks were coming and expected Iranian retaliation would be severe, U.S. officials said, leading the United States to order the evacuations of some nonessential embassy staffers and authorize the voluntary departure of military dependents in the region.
The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic discussions.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff still plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, but it’s not clear if the Iranians would participate, officials said.
Yemen’s Houthis condemn Israeli strikes
The political office for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran, saying that Iran has the “right to defend itself and develop its nuclear program.”
“Israel is an aggressive entity that threatens not only Palestine but also the security and stability of the region and the entire nation,” a statement read.
“Israel’s claims about the Iranian nuclear program are baseless, and it has no right to be the region’s policeman, given its nuclear arsenal.”
Israeli consular services close
“Israeli missions around the world will be closed and consular services will not be provided,” according to a statement posted to the websites of Israeli embassies in Berlin, Stockholm and Rome.
The statement, which appeared to come from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urged Israelis abroad to avoid displaying Jewish or Israeli symbols in public.
Hamas expresses solidarity with Iran
“We declare our solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the brutal Zionist aggression, which primarily stems from Iran’s support for the Palestinian people and its significant backing of their honorable resistance fighters,” said Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing.
He also mourned the deaths of senior Iranian leaders and others killed in the strike, condemning the attack as “cowardly.”
Trump calls Israeli strikes on Iran ‘excellent’ and says ‘more to come’
In an interview with ABC News, U.S. President Donald Trump called the Israeli strikes on Iran “excellent” and previewed more attacks.
“I think it’s been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it,” Trump told ABC on Friday morning. “They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come, a lot more.”
In a further post on the Truth Social platform, Trump added: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’”
“They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” he wrote Friday.
Oil price surge may be temporary
Oil prices have surged after Israel’s attack on Iran, though analysts say the spike will likely be temporary if the fighting doesn’t spread to other countries and disrupt oil shipments.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 7.8% to $74.89. “When Iran and Israel exchanged attacks previously, prices spiked initially but fell once it became clear that the situation was not escalating,” says Richard Joswick, head of near-term oil at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Israel exports only very small quantities of oil and oil products, and China is Iran’s only customer due to Western sanctions. China could find alternative supplies from other Middle East exporters or Russia.
Iran’s president warns of strong action against Israel
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says his nation would “strongly take action” against Israel after its attacks on the country.
In a televised address Friday, Pezeshkian urged people to unite behind its theocratic government.
The “Islamic Republic of Iran will give a severe, wise and strong answer to the occupier regime,” he said, referring to Israel.
Iran confirms Hajizadeh killed
Iran has confirmed that Israel killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s missile program.
Iranian state television made the acknowledgment Friday afternoon. The confirmation came a short time after Israel said its strikes killed Hajizadeh.
Israeli military said it hit ‘underground command center’
The Israeli military said military jets hit a site where Revolutionary Guard officials had “assembled in an underground command center,” allegedly “to prepare for an attack on the state of Israel,” and killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh along with two other senior officials.
It did not offer details or information to support the claim.
“Hajizadeh publicly declared his commitment to Israel’s destruction at various events in recent years and played a central role in developing the Iranian regime’s plan for Israel’s destruction,” the Israelis said.
It also linked those killed to an attack on Saudi Arabia in 2019.
Israel claims it killed head of Revolutionary Guard missile program
Israel claimed Friday it killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s missile program in Iran.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge his death officially, though rumors of his death had been circulating for some time online.
Hajizadeh is a major commander within the Guard, overseeing its ballistic missile arsenal.
Museums in Iran close after attacks
Museums in Iran are taking the extraordinary step of closing down until further notice after attacks by Israel, and were transferring valuable items to secure vaults, officials announced Friday.
The state-affiliated Borna news agency reported the order by Ali Darabi, Iran’s deputy minister and cultural heritage chief.
Such moves have been done only in extraordinary circumstances in Iran, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump urges Iran to reach nuclear deal with Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump is again urging Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program, warning that Israel’s attacks “will only get worse.”
In his first public comments since the Friday attacks, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that “there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.”
Hezbollah says Israel has ‘crossed all red lines’
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has accused the U.S. of providing “approval, coordination, and direct cover-up” for Israel’s strikes, adding that Israel “has crossed all red lines, believing that by doing so, it will change the equations.”
In a statement, the group issued condolences to Tehran for the leaders who were killed, but did not threaten to join in the retaliation.
Jordan says strikes push region into more tension
Jordan’s state media says the country’s foreign minister has discussed Israel’s strikes on Iran with his Egyptian counterpart, and warned that the attack pushes the region into more tension and conflict.
Jordan News Agency said the ministers called the strikes a “dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law.”
The ministers also said Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip should stop to and a two-state solution is needed to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.
Egypt and Jordan are among Arab countries that signed peace treaties with Israel and have normal relations with it.
EU’s top diplomat calls for de-escalation in the Middle East
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the fresh outbreak of violence in the Middle East “deeply alarming.”
“Europe urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint, de-escalate immediately and refrain from retaliation. A diplomatic resolution is now more urgent than ever, for the sake of the region’s stability and global security,” she said in a post on the Bluesky social media platform.
Iran names replacements for commanders killed in strikes
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has replaced two top military commanders killed in a wave of Israeli strikes on Friday.
State TV said he tapped Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi as the new head of the armed forces, replacing Gen. Mohammad Bagheri. Mousavi was previously the top army commander.
Khamenei chose Mohammad Pakpour to lead the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, replacing Gen. Hossein Salami.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centers within the country’s theocracy.
Israeli officials say they smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of strikes
Israeli security officials say the country’s Mossad spy agency smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of Friday’s strikes that were used to target its defenses from within.
Two security officials spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday to discuss the highly secretive missions. It was not possible to independently confirm their claims. There was no official comment.
The officials said a base for launching explosive drones was established inside Iran and that the drones were activated during Friday’s attack to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran.
They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran and positioned them near surface-to-air missile systems. They said it also deployed strike systems on vehicles. Both were activated as the strikes began, in order to target Iran’s defenses, the officials said.
–By Josef Federman and Julia Frankel
Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem is closed to the public
With gates to the Al-Aqsa mosque closed by Israeli police, only the guards and employees of the holy site will be present for traditional Friday prayers, the site’s custodian said Friday.
The mosque is the third holiest site for Muslims, and is located on the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
The Waqf, the Islamic endowment which administers the site, said Israel has banned public gatherings. The call to prayer will sound as usual.
Iraq calls on UN Security Council to ‘deter this aggression’
The Iraqi government in a statement called Israel’s attacks on neighboring Iran “a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations” and a “threat to international peace and security, especially as it occurred during the period of US-Iranian negotiations.”
It called for the UN Security Council to convene immediately to take “decisive and concrete measures to deter this aggression, ensure its non-recurrence, and restore the prestige of the international legal system.”
Baghdad, which has close ties with both the U.S. and Iran, has attempted to maintain a difficult balancing act between the two.
Iran says nuclear enrichment facility was damaged
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said in a statement that parts of the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility were damaged during the Israeli strikes but that no nuclear radiation or chemical contamination has occurred.
NATO chief calls on US, other Israeli allies to press for de-escalation
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on Israel’s Western backers to press for an end to the strikes.
“This was a unilateral action by Israel. So I think it is crucial for many allies, including the United States, to work as we speak to de-escalate,” Rutte told reporters in Stockholm after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Asked whether a nuclear clash might be imminent in the region, Rutte said: “No, we are not close.”
Israel’s defense minister threatens further attacks against Iran
In a statement soon after Israel’s military said it had completed the attack on Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would “continue its activities to thwart the Iranian nuclear program and remove threats on the State of Israel.
“The precise hit on the heads of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army and the nuclear scientists, who were all involved in promoting the plan to destroy Israel, is a strong and clear message — those who work to destroy Israel will be eliminated.”
Israeli military says widespread attack on Iranian air defenses complete
The Israeli military says it has completed a widespread attack on air defenses in western Iran.
It said Friday that it had destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers.
Hamas condemns Israel’s strikes on Iran
The Palestinian group said Friday that the strikes “form a dangerous escalation” that could lead to a regional war.
Hamas added that the strikes reflect the Israeli government’s intention to pull the region into an open war.
Jordanian state media says country intercepting missiles and drones
Jordanian state media said the country’s Air Force is intercepting missiles and drones in its air space.
The state news agency quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying that the interceptions were carried out based on military assessments indicating that the missiles and drones were likely to fall within Jordanian territory, including populated areas, posing a potential threat to civilian safety.
The official added that the Jordan Armed Forces are operating “around the clock to defend the country’s borders by land, sea, and air and will not allow any violation of Jordanian airspace under any circumstances.”
Iranian drones tracked crossing Iraq’s airspace
Two Iraqi security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation said that more than 100 drones launched from Iran toward Israel were tracked crossing Iraqi airspace.
Residents of Iraq’s Diyala province, which borders Iran, reported hearing the sound of aircraft and explosions from strikes inside Iranian territory early Friday.
Some later said they saw drones launched from Iran heading toward Israel.
100 drones launched at Israel, military says
Brig. Gen. Effie Deffrin, the chief Israeli army spokesman: “In the last few hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, and all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats.
Iranian chief of staff killed in Israeli strike
An Israeli airstrike killed Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Iranian state television reported Friday.
Bagheri is a former top commander within Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The state TV report offered no further details.
Multiple military officials and scientists have been killed in the Israeli attack Friday on sites across Iran.
Iran’s supreme leader threatens ‘severe punishment’
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Israel will face “severe punishment” over its attack on the country.
Khamenei issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It also confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.
Israel “opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers,” Khamenei said.
Strikes come days before Iran, US were to hold talks in Oman
Israel’s strikes come days before a sixth round of talks were planned between Iran and the US over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program this Sunday in Oman.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s new administration has been seeking a deal that would halt Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the strikes would affect plans for the talks.
Iran will offer ‘decisive’ response to Israel’s attack
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency is quoting an anonymous official saying Iran will offer a “decisive” response to Israel’s attack.
The report did not elaborate. However, Iranian state television put a black band over the corner of its broadcast, suggesting the attack had been significant enough to spark public mourning.
Black smoke seen over Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility
Black smoke rose Friday over Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz though it wasn’t clear how bad the damage was.
Iranian state television briefly showed the live picture with a reporter.
Natanz is partially above ground, partially below ground, with multiple halls of centrifuges spinning uranium gas for its nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israel targeted the site in Friday’s attack. Natanz previously has been targeted by the Stuxnet cyberattack and multiple sabotage campaigns likely carried out by Israel.
Iranian state TV says head of Revolutionary Guard is feared dead
Iranian state television says the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, is feared dead after an Israeli attack.
It added that one other top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead. The report offered few other details.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centers within the country’s theocracy. It also controls Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is ablaze
An Israeli attack on Iran has set the headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard ablaze, state television reported Friday.
A reporter on air said he was unable to get closer due to the intensity of the fire in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Multiple sites in the capital had been hit in the attack, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted both sites of and officials leading Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal.
Netanyahu says Israel struck nuclear and missile sites
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, as well as top nuclear scientists and officials.
He said Iran was working on a new plan to destroy Israel after its old plan, its circle of proxies, failed. He called it an intolerable threat that must be stopped.
Dozens of commercial flights over Iran as attack begins
Dozens of commercial airliners were in Iranian airspace as the strikes took place, according to flight tracking websites.
More than an hour after the Israeli attack, some were still making their way out of Iranian airspace, but some abruptly altered course to more quickly exit the area.
Many nations’ jets already did not overfly Iran because of regional tensions.
Israel closes its airspace
Israel closed its airspace in anticipation of Iranian retaliation.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that attacks were expected.
“In the wake of the state of Israel’s preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately,” he said in a statement.
The statement added that Katz “signed a special order declaring an emergency situation in the home front.”
Israeli official says Air Force is targeting nuclear and military sites
An Israeli military official says that his country targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, without identifying them.
The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation.
The Israeli official said Iran poses three threats to state of Israel: First, he alleged that the Iranian government is advancing a “secret program” to develop nuclear weapons. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Second, the Israeli official said, Iran has thousands of ballistic missiles. Finally, he said Iran has been distributing weapons and arms to proxy groups across the region like Hezbollah and Hamas.
— Josef Federman
