After an unprecedented Israeli blitz on its nuclear facilities and military leadership, Iran retaliated Friday by launching a massive barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel.
Air raids sirens and explosions rang out across Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the airways to issue a word of caution, saying he expected "several waves of Iranian attacks" in response.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem reported hearing loud booms similar to those associated with missile interceptions, while Israeli TV broadcast dramatic images of smoke rising in Tel Aviv following what appeared to be strikes .
Israeli army said dozens of missiles were launched, and the army has ordered residents across the country to move into bomb shelters. Many were injured, according to Israel.
Speaking on Israel's Channel 12, Eli Bin, the spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, said that seven people were lightly injured in central Israel. Images on Channel 12 showed what appeared to be a building hit by a missile.
Several people were trapped in a high-rise building in central Israel, the firefighting service said.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Iran crossed "red lines" Friday when its missiles targeted civilian areas after Israel launched a wave of attacks on the Islamic republic.
"Iran has crossed red lines by daring to fire missiles at civilian population centres in Israel," Katz said in a statement. "We will continue to defend the citizens of Israel and ensure that the Ayatollah regime pays a very heavy price for its heinous actions."
Shortly after the attacks, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel's deadly attacks on his country will "bring it to ruin", vowing retaliation.
"The armed forces of the Islamic republic will inflict heavy blows upon this malevolent enemy," Khamenei said in a televised speech, adding that the consequences of the Israeli attack "will bring it to ruin" and leave Israel ' helpless'
This exchange follows an intense escalation earlier Friday, when Israel conducted “Operation Rising Lion,” launching its largest-ever pre‑emptive strike on Iranian nuclear and military targets, including Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Tehran, killing senior commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran responded with missile and drone retaliation, possibly involving over 100 drones, many of which were intercepted.
Meanwhile, a fresh wave of explosions rocked multiple regions across Iran on Friday evening.
Iranian authorities said that nuclear sites at Fordow and Isfahan have been struck in attacks, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"At present, the Iranian authorities are informing us of attacks on two other facilities, namely the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, and at Isfahan, (where a) fuel plate fabrication plant, a fuel manufacturing plant, a uranium conversion facility... are located," IAEA nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council.
The latest tweet from Israeli military also said,"The IDF attacked the nuclear site in the Isfahan region
At this moment, Air Force fighter jets have completed an attack on the Iranian regime's nuclear site in the Isfahan area, under precise intelligence guidance from the Intelligence Branch.
The site is undergoing a process of 'reconversion' of enriched uranium. This is the next stage after uranium enrichment in the process of producing nuclear weapons.
The attack destroyed a structure for producing metallic uranium, infrastructure for converting enriched uranium, laboratories, and other infrastructure."
Meanwhile, a televised briefing from Israel's military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin was stopped on Friday, with an Israeli official saying it was due to an incoming Iranian attack.
"The live feed of BG Defrin's statement was cut due to an incoming Iranian attack on central Israel," the official said.
Iran’s state-run IRNA confirmed that Tehran’s air defense systems intercepted multiple incoming projectiles.
“Enemy projectiles were intercepted by the Tehran air defence,” IRNA stated. The ISNA news agency also reported successful interceptions by Iranian defense systems over the capital.
Meanwhile, tensions spilled beyond Iran’s borders. Air raid sirens were heard in Jerusalem on Friday after Israel’s military detected a missile launch from Yemen.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a projectile was fired toward Israeli territory, and explosions were heard as defense systems responded.
Israel’s covert confrontation with Iran erupted into overt warfare on Friday, as the Israeli military launched a sweeping and coordinated assault under the codename Operation Rising Lion.
The strikes targeted Iran’s most sensitive nuclear and military infrastructure, killing several top commanders.
Loud explosions were reported across multiple Iranian cities, including Tehran, as Israeli warplanes struck strategic sites. Among the targets was the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, central to Iran’s atomic program as well as multiple missile bases.
Israeli officials confirmed the operation and announced the deaths of three of Iran’s most senior military figures, General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces; General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); and General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s aerospace and ballistic missile division.
Two prominent nuclear scientists were also killed in the strikes.
Putin condemns Israeli strikes on Iran, says ready to mediate
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned Israel's wave of strikes on Iran, the Kremlin said Friday, following separate phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Russia and Iran have deepened their military ties amid Moscow's offensive on Ukraine, threatening its efforts to maintain warm relations with all major players in the Middle East.
"Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia condemns Israel's actions, which violate the UN Charter and international law," the Kremlin said in a statement Friday.
He also told Netanyahu of his "readiness to provide mediation services in order to prevent further escalation of tensions".
The Kremlin added that Russia was committed to "resolving the current situation, which is fraught with the most disastrous consequences for the entire region".
(With inputs from AFP,AP)
