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Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites and kills top generals. Iran retaliates with missile barrages

By  JON GAMBRELL, MELANIE LIDMAN and JULIA FRANKEL

 11:48 PM EDT, June 13, 2025

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —

Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists

Israel asserted the barrage was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Iran was actively working on such a weapon before the strikes.

Iran retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions flared in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the earlier wave of missiles, to head to shelter, as missiles damaged homes and killed two people.

Iranian missiles strike Israel

Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday.

A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services said they were injured when a projectile hit a building in the city.

Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two people and injuring 19, according to Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel’s Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged.

Meanwhile, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday, and an Associated Press reporter could hear air raid sirens near their home.

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Israel must await a severe punishment: Leader Khamenei

TEHRAN, Jun. 13 (MNA) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a message following the Israeli attacks on Iran's territory.

The Israeli regime conducted a massive airstrike on Iran early on Friday, which resulted in the martyrdom of a number of civilians and military officials.

Reacting to the Israeli aggression, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a message.

The statement reads as follows,

Great nation of Iran!

At dawn today, the Zionist regime committed a heinous crime on our beloved soil, revealing its evil nature more than ever by targeting residential areas with its wicked and bloodstained hands. The regime must await a severe punishment.

By God's will, the powerful hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will not let it [Israel] go unpunished.

In the enemy's attacks, several commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately carry on their duties, God willing.

With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself — and it will undoubtedly receive it. 

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Iran's New Missile Attacks on Tel Aviv and Large Areas of Israel

Tasnim, 14 Jun 2025 - 06:51 

This morning, the Zionist media reported a new round of Iranian missile attacks on Tel Aviv and large areas in the north, center and south of occupied Palestine.

According to the Tasnim News Agency, the Zionist media reported that explosions were heard in a large part of the occupied Palestinian territory, including in the north, center and south of the regime.

The Zionist regime's radio acknowledged that Iranian missiles hit the Tel Aviv area.

The Zionist media also reported that Iranian missiles hit the Rishon Lezion area south of Tel Aviv.

Israel Regime Radio reported: "In the fifth round of Iranian missile attacks, all parts of Israel have been targeted.

Hebrew sources reported that at least three rockets hit northern occupied Palestine in a new wave of Iranian missile attacks.

The Zionist regime's army officially acknowledged the attacks and stressed that dozens of missiles were fired from Iran towards Israel over the past hour, some of which the regime was able to intercept.

The Zionist media are reporting on the sixth round of rocket attacks by the Zionist regime on large areas of Israel.

Despite the news censorship of the Zionist casualty figures, the Zionist media reported that 21 people were injured after an Iranian missile hit the center of occupied Palestine, three of whom are in critical condition. Some Zionist sources report that 2 Zionists were killed in the rocket attack.

The Israeli media reported that Iran fired three sets of rockets at Israel in 15 minutes.

The Zionist regime's media describe the extent of the damage and destruction caused by Iran's new missile attack on the Rishon Lezion area south of Tel Aviv as extensive.

Read More

Iran's New Round of Missile Attacks on the Zionist Regime in "Sadiq Promise 3"

Zionists Confess to One Dead and 50 Wounded in Sadiq Promise 3

Hebrew Media: Iranian Missile Hit Strategic Area of Tel Aviv

Rockets hit strategic positions in Ashdod, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba

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Have these Iranian missiles navigated first wave of attack on Zionist regime?

Pars News, Jun 14, 2025 05:46 UTC

Pars Today-

The Zionist regime, in accordance with the joint planning with the US and Washington's green light after repeated threats over striking Iran's nuclear facilities, attacked different goals in Iran with air-to-surface missiles on Friday early morning (June 13) which resulted in martyrdom of a number of senior commanders, scientists and ordinary people.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement after the attack on Iran, claimed that the operation had aimed at damaging nuclear and missile infrastructures of Iran.

In reaction to the threats of Tel Aviv, Iran has stressed that, any adventurism by the Zionist regime would face with a hard and decisive response. Regarding Iran's tremendous missile and drone capabilities coupled with the tactics and technics of asymmetric battle, which the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic have exercised for years, will deal very severe and crushing blows to Israel.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei, in a message after the Israeli attack on Iran, stressed that the Zionist regime must wait for a hard punishment. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also announced in a statement that Iran's crushing response will make the Zionist regime regret.

Iran is now at the highest military preparedness and its response will definitely astound Israel. Moreover, Iran's recent intelligence operation and exposure the bank of American and Israeli targets has given Tehran broad intelligence superiority so that the Islamic Republic is able to bewilder the enemies with fatal blows before any move by them.

Regarding the tiny area of the Zionist regime (Occupied Palestinian Territories), lacking any strategic depth and notable concentration of population, ports, public facilities, factories, production centers, barracks, air bases and nuclear facilities, this regime naturally offers a remarkable host of targets for Iran's Armed Forces. So, Iran can use various missiles with necessary ranges to hit the Occupied Palestine and is able to deal very harsh and destructive blows to Israel with suicide drones having a range of 2,000km. Here, we present you the features of some of the missiles in Iran's arsenal which can pulverize the Zionist regime.

Iran's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, announced on June 11 that the country's latest achievement was the successful testing of a missile with a 2-ton warhead. It seems to be Khorramshahr-4 (Kheibar) ballistic missile which was unveiled in early June.

This missile is the last advanced version of Khorramshahr family and among the precision-guided missiles with no need to guiding in the final phase.

 Khorramshahr-4 (Kheibar) is one of the long-range missiles with an operational range of nearly 2,000 kilometers. This missile is 13m long, 1.5m in diameter and weighs around 30 tons. The warhead of this missile weighs 1,800kg with a speed of nearly 8 Mach inside the atmosphere and 16 Mach outside it.

The warhead is approximately 4m which is among the largest and most effective warheads able to carry more than 1 ton of explosives. The engine of Khorramshar-4 missile is of the advanced type (Arvand) which uses hypergolic fuels (igniting spontaneously).

Experts of Iranian missile industries, in order to upgrade tactical capabilities, have placed the engine inside the fuel tank which has decreased the missile length to nearly 13m.

The capability to hit with high precision, being radar-evasive, ability to correct trajectory and ineffectiveness of electronic war systems on its functioning, are some of the features of Khorramshar-4 missile. Moreover, the high speed of warhead at the moment of hitting the goal makes the hostile defense systems unable to detect, intercept and destroy it.

Another feature of this missile is the middle guiding so that the guiding systems of the missile are turned off after entering the atmosphere to disable the enemy's electronic war.

 In comparison with the previous generations, this missile can secure precision-guiding at the middle phase (flying above atmosphere). It has been equipped with one of the most advanced liquid fuel engines to create tactical capabilities and has been designed in a way that the engine is placed inside the fuel tank to decrease its length to nearly 13m.

Former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Airspace Force, Brigadier General, Martyr Amirali Hajizadeh, had said on the features of Khorramshahr-4, "After launching one Khorramshahr missile, it hits 80 goals in the target area. If we launch 100 of these missiles, they will turn into 8,000 rockets in the enemy's territory and hit 8,000 goals."

With a range of 1,450km, Kheibarshekan missile enjoys a tri-conic warhead structure to protect it during heavy maneuvers. Of course, the drag force is a little greater in this structure in order to give it maneuverability. In fact, the designers have preferred maneuverability to the increase of drag force with engineering reforming.

What is conspicuous in this missile are the relative bigger dimensions of the mobile winglets of warhead which enhance its maneuverability after entering the atmosphere and enable it to do more intricate and faster maneuvers in order to effectively pass through atmospheric anti-missile defense dam which is the main function of the defense systems such as the Israeli David's Sling and American Patriot. Another feature to note about Kheibarshekan missile is the way its warhead explodes. According to the footages released of the missile, the warhead of this missile is of the high-explosive type. According to Martyr General Hajizadeh, the substances used in the warhead of this missile have increased its explosion power several times more than TNT.

Fattah-1 missile has been produced by the experts of the Airspace Force of IRGC. This missile, having tactical capabilities, enjoys second-phase solid fuel mobile nozzle propellant which enables it to reach very high speeds and carry out various maneuvers inside and outside atmosphere in order to overcome different kinds of the air defense systems of enemy.

Another features of this missile are: 2-phase solid fuel, range of 1,400km, unpredictable maneuver inside and outside atmosphere, maximum speed of 25 Mach outside atmosphere and 13-15 Mach at striking, using alloy compounds absorbing defense radar waves and very low cross-section of warhead. Other outstanding features of Fattah-1 hypersonic missile are increasing striking precision, very high speed, extraordinary maneuverability, and the ability to hide and pass through radar systems.

Fattah-2 hypersonic missile enjoys the glide and cruise capabilities which is categorized among Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV). Only 4 countries, including Iran, possess the technology of this type of hypersonic weapons.

HGV projectiles, like Fattah-2, instead of getting high like ballistic projectiles, move towards the target at very low height with the ability to change the trajectory repeatedly, thus, the early alarm system of the enemy radars are confused to detect them and it is very likely to surprise the complex of the enemy missile defense.

For sure, the missile power of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not limited. The Islamic Republic has rather displayed a highly remarkable power in the field with testing a variety of missiles with different ranges and capabilities, such as "Emad" with 1,700km range, "Qadr H" with 1,650km range, "Qadr F" with 1,950km range, "Qiam" with 800km range, "Kheibarshekan" with 1,450km range, "Haj Qasem" with 1,400km range, "Sejjil" with 2,000km range, and "Paveh" cruise missile with 1,650km range.

The defense and deterrence power of the Islamic Republic of Iran is composed of several parameters one of the most basic of which is the missile capability so that Iran is among the top countries in the field. Furthermore, Iranian drones, with the ability to fly at high levels, long durability in the sky and ability to carry various ammunitions, play a significant role in upgrading the intelligence and operational capabilities.

These breakthroughs, alongside development of defense systems, state-of-the-art technologies of electronic war and floating systems, made Iran famous as a key player in the security and military equations in West Asia and created a high deterrence power for the country in the face of regional and trans-regional threats.

Moreover, the Islamic Republic has just displayed serious power in the security and intelligence domains. The unprecedented transfer of a huge amount of top secret documents of the Zionist regime in the nuclear, military, security … fields indicates a very high prowess of Iran's intelligence apparatus beside missile capability. Thus, Iran is undoubtedly the first intelligence power in the region.   

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Iran to Intensify Attacks on Israel: Official

June, 14, 2025 - 07:17 

TEHRAN (Tasnim) –

An Iranian official said the country will intensify its retaliatory strikes against the Zionist regime in response to the recent Israeli attacks on Iranian residential areas as well as military and nuclear sites.

Iran will intensify its attacks on the Israeli regime and target the regional bases of any country that tries to defend the regime, a senior Iranian official told CNN.

The official noted that Iran reserves the legitimate right to respond to the Israeli regime’s act of aggression that claimed the lives of several top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists in the early hours of June 13.

Iran on Friday night launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at the Israeli targets during Operation True Promise III.

The retaliatory operation was carried out in compliance with the directive of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s Armed Forces and in response to the demand of the noble Iranian people, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said.

During Operation True Promise III, hundreds of missiles were fired by Iran and successfully breached the Zionists’ much-touted multi-layered air defense system.

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Iranian Missiles Hit Tel Aviv After Launch of True Promise III Operation

June, 13, 2025 - 22:20 

TEHRAN (Tasnim) –

Iran launched a massive missile attack on the Israeli regime in an operation dubbed “True Promise III”.

Hundreds of missiles were fired by Iran on Friday evening and successfully breached the Zionists’ much-touted multi-layered air defense system.

Photos coming out of Tel Aviv show the missiles have successfully hit targets in the Zionist regime’s capital.  

Israeli bases and the regime’s war ministry and ministry of national security have been hit in the attack, the photos reveal.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has vowed a crushing response to Israel’s acts of aggression.

The Israeli regime attacked a number of residential neighborhoods of Tehran and locations in other parts of Iran in the early hours of Friday.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami, Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Major General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and at least six Iranian nuclear scientists have been martyred in the strikes.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Zionist regime that it will receive a severe punishment for the strike, saying, “With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see.”

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Israel strikes Iran's nuclear facilities and kills senior military leaders, Iran retaliates with drones

By Christina Anagnostopoulos, Farouq Suleiman, Kylie Maclellan, Ju-min Park, Ros Russell and Alexandra Hudson

Reuters, June 13, 2025

Summary

Israel strikes Iranian nuclear facilities and kills top military commanders Some 200 fighter jets took part in the strikes, the Israeli military says Iran promises harsh response U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran must make a deal Read our full recap here

Netanyahu says Washington knew about the Iran attack plans

By Maayan Lubell

Trump tells Iran to do deal now after Israel blasts nuclear and military targets
By Maayan Lubell, Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland

Reuters, June 13, 202510:00 AM

Israel launched a barrage of strikes across Iran on Friday, saying it had attacked nuclear facilities and missile factories and killed a swathe of military commanders in what could be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran building an atomic weapon. Though Washington said it had no part in the attack, U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel's main ally, suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting a U.S. ultimatum in talks to restrict its nuclear programme.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. 

They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more," he was quoted as saying on Friday in an interview with ABC News. "Two months ago I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to 'make a deal'," Trump added in a post on Truth Social. "They should have done it! Today is day 61 ...

Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!" Iran promised a harsh response to the overnight onslaught, which killed the heads of both its armed forces and the powerful Revolutionary Guards. Israel said about 100 drones had been launched towards Israeli territory in retaliation, although an Iranian source denied this.

Scroll to continue Around 0800 GMT, an order to Israeli citizens to remain near protected areas had been lifted, suggesting that most or all of the drones had been been intercepted. In a televised message, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Iranians to stand by their leaders and said a powerful response "will make Israel regret its foolish act".

Iran told the United Nations Security Council, due to meet on Friday at Tehran's request, in a letter that it will respond decisively and proportionally to Israel's "unlawful" and "cowardly" acts. Iran's Nournews said 78 people had been killed and 329 injured in Israeli attacks on residential areas in Tehran.

The price of crude leapt around 8% on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region. The national Iranian oil company said refining and storage facilities had not been damaged and continued to operate. OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais on Friday said that the escalation between Israel and Iran did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply, as current conditions remain stable.

An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran's strategic missile array. Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had bombarded Iran's air defences, destroying "dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers".

Iran said several top commanders and six nuclear scientists had been killed, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami. In all, at least 20 senior commanders were killed, two regional sources said. The head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was also reported to be among them. Iran's Fars news agency, citing a security source, denied Israeli reports that Tehran had launched drones towards Israel.

IRANIAN NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT PLANT REPORTEDLY DAMAGED

Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz suffered significant damage, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said. Briefing journalists online, Defrin said 200 Israeli fighter jets took part in the strikes, hitting more than 100 targets, with others to work through, and that the operation might be lengthy. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, invoked the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust to justify his decision to attack Iran, framing the strikes as a decisive step to protect Israel from a future existential threat.

"I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal," he said. "There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left..." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement that Israel had "unleashed its wicked and bloody" hand and would suffer "a bitter fate". At one time, Israel might have expected a wave of retaliation from Iranian-backed militias around the region. But since war erupted in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has severely weakened Iran's allies, assassinating the top leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Airlines quit the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan after the Israeli strikes, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers diverting or cancelling flights. Israeli carriers El Al, Israir and Arkia said they were moving their planes out of Israel and Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport was shut. Dubai-based Emirates cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran as Iran closed its airspace. However, merchant shipping continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, although some shipowners were looking to avoid the region.

Israel remained on alert, shutting its embassies around the world and urging citizens via embassy websites to stay vigilant and avoid displaying Jewish or Israeli symbols in public. Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and "prepared across all borders". Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi joined global calls for de-escalation.

"At an extremely critical time when the U.S. was negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran that would save the whole region and the world, a new vicious escalation," he said on X. U.S. and Iranian officials had been scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday. Oman, which is mediating in Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, described Israel's attack as reckless and urged the international community to halt the "dangerous course of action".

Iran's armed forces spokesperson accused Washington of providing support for the operation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. had not been involved and that Israel had acted unilaterally in self-defence. U.S. officials have repeatedly said any new nuclear deal - to replace a 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers from which Trump withdrew - must include a commitment to scrap uranium enrichment, a prerequisite for developing nuclear bombs.

The Islamic Republic insists it wants nuclear energy only for civilian purposes. The IAEA's Board of Governors on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Some Iranian citizens opposed to the ruling clerics expressed hope that Israel's attack might lead to their downfall, though one Tehran resident who was not a supporter of clerical rule said his country must retaliate. "We can’t afford not to respond. Either we surrender and they take our missiles, or we fire them. There's no other option — and if we don’t, we’ll end up surrendering them anyway." Trump was convening his National Security Council on Friday morning, the White House said.

Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Stephen Coates and Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Kevin Liffey, Peter Graff 

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had informed the United States about its plans to attack Iran before carrying them out.

"I leave the American position to the Americans. We updated them ahead of time. They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President (Donald) Trump. He makes his decisions independently," Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.

"I am not going to speak for him (Trump). He does that very convincingly and assertively. He said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, they cannot have enrichment capabilities."

Iran may still be able to strike a nuclear deal, Trump says

Reuters, June 13, 2025, 11:10 EDT

By Rami Ayyub

Trump told NBC News on Friday that Iran missed an opportunity to make a nuclear deal with the United States, but it may now have another chance to strike an agreement.

"They missed the opportunity to make a deal. Now, they may have another opportunity. We’ll see," Trump was quoted as saying by NBC.

Trump told NBC that Iranian representatives were calling him to suggest they still want a deal.

Breaking

UN conference on Israel-Palestinian issue postponed

33 minutes ago 11:01 EDT Pesha Magid and John Irish

A United Nations conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia aimed at forging a roadmap towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians has been postponed after Israel's strikes on Iran, two sources said on Friday.

A Western diplomatic source in Riyadh said the Saudi-French conference would be postponed, partly because of the strikes on Iran.

A second source familiar with the situation said some delegations from the Middle East would not, or could not, come because of the developments.

France and Saudi Arabia had been set to host the high-level gathering between June 17-20 in New York, aiming to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security.

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