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Israel early on June 13 launched hundreds of strikes against Iran, targeting nuclear sites, missile factories and senior leaders, in what could be the start of a regional war.
“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message announcing the attack.
“Moments ago Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Several waves of Israeli strikes were reported throughout the Islamic Republic for several hours, starting from around 3:00 a.m. local time.
An official of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets, claiming that Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.
“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 military said in a statement.
Over 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the strike, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a press conference, adding that fighter jets dropped over 330 munitions on some 100 targets in the strikes.
Defrin also confirmed that several top Iranian officials were killed in the strikes, including Iran’s military commander Mohammad Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Hossein Salami, and head of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Gholam Ali Rashid.
Blasts were reported in the Natanz Nuclear Facility, where uranium is enriched, as well as in and around the capital, Tehran, where civilian casualties were reported.
In addition, Iran’s state TV reported nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed in the strikes. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said, however, that a total of six scientists were killed, without providing names. Senior adviser Ali Shamkhani was also killed in strikes, according to the Iran International website.
In tandem with the strikes, Axios reporter Barak Ravid told CNN that Israel’s Mossad spy agency carried out a series of covert sabotage operations “deep” inside Iran against the Islamic Republic’s air defenses and missile facilities.
Later, Netanyahu announced that the attack on Iran was “very successful,” implying that Operation Rising Lion was not yet over.
“We struck the senior command, we struck senior scientists that advance development of nuclear weapons, we struck nuclear installations,” the primer said in a video statement, sitting alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Shas party chief Aryeh Deri and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
“We are racking up achievements,” he continued, “but I know, and you know, there are no easy wars.”
Israelis may well have to spend “far longer periods in shelters than we were accustomed to until now,” he added.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said right after the start of the attack that Israel took “unilateral action against Iran,” stressing that Washington was not involved.
“Our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for [their] self-defense,” he said in a statement.
“President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners,” he added. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that Israel will face a “severe punishment” in response to the attack.
In a statement carried by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, Khamenei confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the strikes that also targeted nuclear and military sites.
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,” the supreme leader said.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has set itself for a bitter and painful fate and it will definitely receive it,” he added.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said that there was no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz nuclear site after the strikes, citing information given to them by Iranian authorities. The watchdog also added that the Bushehr nuclear power plant was not targeted during the attack.
The unprecedented Israeli attack drew condemnations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, all key allies of the U.S.
An Iranian response is reportedly underway with dozens of suicide drones flying towards Israel. The IDF said that at least 100 drones had been launched. Fighter jets from Israel, the U.S. and other allies were reportedly preparing to intercept the drones over Jordan, Syria and Iraq.
The scale of the Israeli attack requires a serious response from Iran. The Islamic Republic refrained in past confrontations from taking serious action. Despite taking heavy losses now, hesitation appears to be still prevalent among the country’s leadership for no clear reasons.
Tehran hesitated to back its allies in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria, and in the process it encouraged Israel to go on with the attack taking place now.
A proper Iranian response would target Israeli nuclear sites. That’s what the country’s senior officials promised to do more than once. Anything short of that will likely encourage Israel to widen its ongoing attack. Netanyahu’s ultimate goal is likely to take down the Iranian regime all together.
This could very well be a make it or break moment for Iran, will it practice its right to defend itself for real or go on with its so-called “strategic patience”.
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MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
its time to put up or shut up for the mullahs in charge. hesitation will be seen as weakness and will invite more of the same. hit zionist population centers with missiles and wreck some bloody havoc thru these evil murderous dogs. anything less is pure cowardice.
idf leadership and infrastructure needs to be levelled. gold exchange, mossad hq, desalination plants, powerplants, dimona….its all fair game. if iranian leadership chickens out like the arabs and turks, its over for the islamic world. they will be kissing zionist swine ass the rest of their lives
they must also get the general who is an zionist agent. everyone knows him, and he has done a lot of harm. it’s the eli cohen of iran. without him the military heads of iran would be alive.
i think arabs are happy to do that as long as they get their bribes.
arab leaders very much happy to lick zionist boots and collect paychecks. useless eaters in other words. abdullah of jordan a classic example
time to destroy the gangster state of israel
hopefully, iran hits israel and jordan badly, not like last time.
their real mission is and was just to survive. the us is going to start 3 hysterical wars, it already started one against russia, now against iran, and lastly china. each of them needs to survive, after which the us will permanently broken and defeated
how would you survive when you are dead, like the military leadership is now? that’s nonsense, sorry.
the state has not been broken in any of the us programs. nothing lasts forever, but so far abject failure for the americans beyond creating chaos.
the shameless jew loves to roll around in a shit pit of misery, death and constant drama. such desperate acts indicate that iran is very close to finally levelling the nuclear playground. one thing is certain now, iran will 100% get the nuke. there is no going back now. israel will have to learn to live with an islamic nuclear bomb. they are afraid of an islamic nuke because the zionist cockroaches want to steal and kill without resistance
this might well be the end of isreal. you heard it here first.
israel is fooling itself if it thinks iranians will embrace israel with open arms after such attacks. most iranians now want nuclear deterrence. israel stole nuclear material from an american contractor numec in 1960s “apollo affair”. they detonated a nuke in apartheid south africa in early 1980s. they are not signatory to npt treaty and iaea does not visit israel. they have chemical and biological weapons. and they play the victim. sorry yids, you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.
norway, uk, france, america, gave nuclear weapons to the yidz. south africa and france tested their nuclear weapons for them.
iran must show to the world that iran is not a paper-tiger!
iran, we are watching you and we will laugh at you if you attack empty places in israel!
iran, they killed at least 5 your top military and non-military elites, you must retaliate and eliminate at least 5 top military elites in israel, show to the world that you are only a barking dog!?
“you must retaliate and eliminate at least 5”
i would say at least 6 million to start with.
golly derpster, i hope “iran” is reading your posts.
l’iran ha perso poi tocca alla turchia.
iran unfortunately fell for the trumpstein trick of fake talks. when western weasels want “negotiations” they only buy time and cover for sinister plots to unfold. u simply cannot ever, ever trust the west. trust is dead. usa uses israel to achieve its aims in the region while pretending not to be involved, its called plausible deniability. how can states keep falling for these hook nosed swine and their cheap jewish tricks is beyond me.
israel uses the us
well to be honest, it goes both ways. they are both scum. sado masochistic scum
now your talking. thats about the same as christians, burning women alive, and mass murdering at the hospitals.
us and uk operating out of qatar were involved. this is exactly the same as the recent attacks in russia – both happened a day before negotiations were due to take place.
hehe, see what’s coming for russia. ukraine is defeating and holding russia at bay. israel support ukraine and now have defeated iran and the same is coming for russia to get out of ukraine.
you ejaculate too soon….its a common problem in the west
nope, russia are weak, many redlines all crossed by nato and ukraine and retaliation by russia is weak. where was the response to the attacks on russian territory. nothing up to now same goes for iran.
it is frustrating for many…we do not know many things behind the scenes. it could be weakness but its could be strategic decisions. do not forget the western states are like teenagers pumped up on testosterone and instant rush of “likes”. the other nations are older, more mature. the west is trigger happy and juvenile. they like immediate results. but they exhaust themselves that way. trigger happy die early. eu, israel and ussa are collapsing, but they do not yet know
i can’t believe how stupid you are. you and all the idiots who expect a victorious response from iran, a disarmed country facing only a nuclear power, israel, and a nuclear superpower, the united states, both without restraint or scruples.
poor iran, “backed” by an “ally” with pink markers, one of the most ignorant, stupid, and cowardly in russian history.
the russians have been operating across a vast swathe of formerly ukrainian territory for three years, and the scope of that swathe grows every single day.
hosea 8:7 and proverbs 22:8 don’t say you weren’t warned.
russia is not being “held at bay”. the russians have assumed control over a vast section of territory forfeited by the failed ukrainian cia project.
iran so unprepared and many upper generals and scientists dead. hehe where is prof marandi now with his weak iran. france uk us and israel more powerful than russia and iran.
it is clear that the iaea have been actively spying for israel and supplying information for jew murder attacks against scientists and others. iran should now withdraw from the npt and never let the iaea set foot in iran again.
proverbs 16:18 11:2 and 12:15
hopefully, we now get rid of the germans destroying middle east, and the “jewish” regimes forced onto white people 1000 years ago. parasites, living by steal pensions and road robbing. hang the regimes and the parasites in brussel.
the settler state is risking everything for assassinating some leaders. you know leaders come and go and get replaced. the jews spend many years planning the pager attacks. these people revel in untermenschen behaviors of the highest order just to maim, kill and steal. israel is a global problem. they tarnish humanity and abide by no limits. many people look back on hitler and wish he finish the job.
they are sent by adolf hitler rothschild ! but you cant see the similarities 😂 you are all fouled.
hitler killed 27 million russians by call them jews. the transformation to use fake jews for to kill muslims are almost impossible to overcome for simple minds 😂 sunday school ?
hitler was a greedy fool in the end. his greatest mistake…attacking soviet union.
i should say that adolf trump are a greedy fool 😂 latest “jews” are mexicans 😂 you should really try to do something against him. hint, he is not european.
the worst actor in the world worked, reagan. you are constantly attacked by a form of murderous clowns, and believe them, instead of kill them on the spot.
usually they are shouting alu akbar. don’t hear any of that as if it does something. hehehe. iran getting annihilated and as predicted are unprepared. although it seems israel have started the direct attack so some weak response will be forthcoming.
or the calm before the storm, fact the facts israel is small, and is clinging on to its little sliver of stolen land like a drowning person clings onto a straw.
of course the chicken israeli leader is running and hiding away from the mayhem and murder he ordered and started.
this is why trump initiated ice raids knowing full well the people would not sit well with it a distraction from this.
i think this is really a consequence of arabs just doing nothing. only lebanon and yemen assisted palestine. the other arab countries will do nothing as long as their sheiks and whatnot continue to receive bribes from the west.
why only the arab countries? what have the rest of the muslim world done for palestine? dont just point your finger on the arabs only. no, it is the all of the muslim world that didnt do anything beside of iran, iraq, yeman and lebanon. the rest were just watching and even helping israhell. that is the real truth
agree about this. nazi germany get a to long way by other countries doing nothing. now the nazis are almost in africa, and mass murder.
june 13 aduodecimalday that will live in infamy.
friday the 13 is a satanic date. the date of attack selected by satan’s chosen tribe. a pure cohen-cidence im sure. i told you zionism rhymes with satanism. there are sexual deviancy rings in israel, rabbis, who worship baal and moloch. their political elites are also moloch worshippers. the talmud has babylonian roots. babylon was a degenerate empire like assyria.
of course its satanism ! at least 5000 years old, when they started to store cadavers for later use. thats the walking part 🤡
usa administration plays cat and mouse game when zelenski attack russia nuclear bomber site their distance them self with excuses.again their distance themself to have relax infor gathering for next attack
iran should also kill us and iisrael generals nd bom all usa bases which re there to spy on russia and iran.
natayahu is not a jew his zionist hitlers blood line as a killer offspring.
none of them are jews. they started to get exported from nazi germany before the war, wwii
everyone on earth know usa,israel/nato tactics attacks first and call for de-esclation and peace plus ceasefire.
for-sure it is a plan attack no condolence from nato few select one sided global community. is this terrorism or attacking other country to control it or national terrorist interference.
the west is on its last legs. desperation everywhere. those who rush to war are out of options. demographics, geography and economics is not on the side of the west. they had a good run stealing from others, but you can only steal so much before everybody wises up to the scam that is “western civilization”. mark my words: israel will be the downfall of the west. it will be its greatest liability. zionism will destroy all credibility and goodwill the west has with the globe. just wait and see
putin is hiding in underground submarine not in the sea while ally is attack.making private call to trump.