Israel launched an attack on Iran on Friday morning that killed high-profile military personnel and damaged nuclear and missile facilities, raising the prospect of a full-scale war between the two Middle East rivals.
It appears to have been the most serious attack Iran has faced since its conflict with Iraq in the 1980s.
Tensions over Iran's rapidly expanding nuclear program boiled over and Iran immediately retaliated by launching a swarm of drones toward Israel, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning of “severe punishment.”
Regional states condemned Israel's aggression, while world leaders called on both sides to immediately reduce tensions.
The Israeli military said it targeted about 100 targets in the first attack, using about 200 aircraft.
Two security officials noted that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was also able to pre-position explosive drones inside Iran and then activate them to strike missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran.
They said Israel also smuggled precision-guided weapons into central Iran, as well as vehicle-mounted strike systems that were used when the attack began to hit Iranian air defense systems.
The Israeli operation affected several sites, including Iran's main uranium enrichment center at Natanz, where black smoke billowed into the air.
Later in the morning, Israel said it had also destroyed dozens of radar stations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran.
Among the victims were three high-profile Iranian commanders: General Mohammad Bagheri, who headed all the armed forces, General Hossein Salami, commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, and General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was in charge of the ballistic missile program.
Iran confirmed the deaths of all three, a major blow to Tehran's ruling theocracy that will complicate its efforts to retaliate against Israel.
Khamenei also said that other high-profile military and academic figures were also killed.
In response, Iran launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, and Iraq and Jordan confirmed that drones had flown over their airspace.
Israel said the drones were intercepted outside its airspace.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
