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Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran as Israel said it targeted nuclear and military sites. The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
What to know:
- Iran’s nuclear program: The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency censured the nation for the first time in 20 years after it refused to work with inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones.
- Scope of the attack: It isn’t immediately clear what has been hit, though smoke could be rising from Chitgar, a neighborhood in western Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address on YouTube that the attacks will continue “for as many days at it takes to remove this threat.”
- How the US has responded: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral action against Iran,” warning Iran not to target U.S. forces in retaliation. In recent days, the U.S. began pulling some diplomats from Iraq’s capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of U.S. troops in the wider Middle East.
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.
JUST IN: Iranian state television says head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is feared dead after Israeli attack
Israeli military chief threatens Iran would pay ‘heavy price’ for retaliation
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has warned Iran and its regional proxies against retaliating against Israel.
“I warn, anyone who tries to challenge us will pay a heavy price,” he says.
Israeli strike sets headquarters of Revolutionary Guard ablaze
Israel’s attack on Iran has set the headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Tehran ablaze, state television reported Friday.
A reporter on air said he was unable to get closer due to the intensity of the fire.
Multiple sites in the capital have been hit in the attack, although the extent of strikes remains unclear.
JUST IN: Iranian state TV says the headquarters of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Tehran was hit in Israeli attack and is burning
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 alleged that Iran was working on a new plan to destroy Israel after its old plan, its circle of proxies, failed. He called that an intolerable threat that must be stopped.
Damage from the Israeli attack against Tehran
Smoke rises from a damaged building in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran. (AP Photo)
Smoke rises from a damaged building in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran. (AP Photo)
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’s jets already did not overfly Iran because of regional tensions.
Scope of attack remains unclear
The extent of Israel’s strikes remained unclear early Friday.
Explosions could be heard across Tehran, Iran’s capital city. There were some images circulating of damaged residential buildings.
Iranian state television also was being careful in how they described the assault, suggesting that some areas outside of Tehran that had also been hit.
US Sen. Reed calls Israel strike ‘a reckless escalation’
Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. speaks during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. speaks during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the Israeli strike “a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence.”
“These strikes threaten not only the lives of innocent civilians but the stability of the entire Middle East and the safety of American citizens and forces,” he said. Reed added: “I urge both nations to show immediate restraint, and I call on President Trump and our international partners to press for diplomatic de-escalation before this crisis spirals further out of control.”
Netanyahu says strikes respond to threat to Israel’s survival
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address on YouTube that the country launched “a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”
He added that the attacks will continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Israel closes 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.”
“It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,” it said.
JUST IN: Israel closes its airspace after attacking Iran
JUST IN: Netanyahu says Israel launched a ‘targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival’
Rubio says Israel took ‘unilateral action’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio departs a lunch between President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio departs a lunch between President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral action against Iran” and that Israel advised the U.S. that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense, while warning Iran not to target U.S. forces in retaliation.
In a statement, he said: “Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
JUST IN: Rubio says US not involved in Israeli strikes on Iran, warns Tehran against targeting US interests and personnel
The Israeli official said Iran is posing three threats to the 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. Secondly, 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.
Iran halted flights at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, state TV says
Iran has closed its airspace in the past when launching previous attacks against Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.
JUST IN: Iran halts flights at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the country’s main airport, state TV says
Trump on White House lawn as explosions begin
As the explosions in Tehran started, President Donald Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes.
Earlier in the day, Trump said an Israeli attack over Iran’s nuclear program was not imminent “but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen.”
The U.S. has been preparing for something to happen, pulling some diplomats from Iraq’s capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of U.S. troops in the wider Middle East.
The White House did not have an immediate comment Thursday night.
