Less than 24 hours after Israel hit Iran’s nuclear and military establishments, it has launched a fresh wave of attack on the country’s capital. The Israel military said they have struck more than 200 targets in Iran, including nuclear facility in Isfahan.
Two explosions were reportedly heard near the Fordow nuclear site.
Air defences in Iran had been activated as a result of the air strikes. In a post on X, the Israeli Air Force said it is continuing to “attack missile launchers and infrastructure” in Iran.
On Friday, Israel had attacked Iran’s capital, that targeted the country’s nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for 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 operation also killed senior officials and scientists. The leader of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was confirmed dead. The chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri was also confirmed dead by state media, apart from officials and scientists.
About 200 Israeli aircrafts took part in Friday’s operation and hit about 100 targets. Israel’s army chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said that Iran had also launched more than 100 drones towards Israel and that, “all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei said that Israel “opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers.”
However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that he hoped the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran’s theocracy and he also told the people of Iran that the fight was not with them, but with the “brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years.”
US President Donald Trump hailed Israel’s attack on Iran, and called it “excellent” and warned that there was much to come, according to an interview with ABC News.
“I think it’s been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. 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,” Trump was quoted as saying by an ABC reporter on X.
When he was asked if there was American participation in the strikes, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on that.”
