Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday night into Friday morning launched air strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories, and overall military capabilities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation.
Israel is at a “decisive point” in its history, Netanyahu said. “Our brave pilots are attacking a large number of targets across Iran.”
An unnamed Israeli defense official told Army Radio: “The opening strike included air defense targets, [strikes on] surface-to-surface missiles, and a wide wave of senior Iranian officials being neutralized, timed with great precision — simultaneously hitting the Iranian General Staff and nuclear scientists across Iran.”
The official added: “If this opening strike succeeded — then what we did to senior Hizbullah officials over 10 days — we did to Iran in 10 minutes.”
Iranian state media confirms the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami in an Israeli strike.
“Major General Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was martyred in the Israeli regime’s attack on the IRGC headquarters,” the local Tasnim news agency reports.
The IRGC controls Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles.
In addition to Salami, Israel believes the chief of Iran’s military, Mohammad Bagheri, other members of the military’s top brass, and senior nuclear scientists were also killed in the IDF’s opening strikes on Iran.
Iran's key uranium enrichment facility in the country’s center was hit multiple times, Iranian state TV reported.
The “Natanz enrichment facility has been hit several times,” state TV reported, showing footage of heavy smoke billowing from the site.
As of Friday morning, the Israeli Air Force carried out five waves of strikes in Iran, a military official told The Times of Israel.
Hundreds of strikes have been carried out in total, the official said.
Statement by Netanyahu:
A statement from IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin on the preemptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear targets pic.twitter.com/IJNT5LXz6o
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
Explosions reported in Natanz and Fordow, Iran’s major nuclear facilities. pic.twitter.com/ZKxN680pTW
— Zineb Riboua (@zriboua) June 13, 2025
