Shortly before sunrise in Iran on Friday, Israel launched the first strikes of its operation against the regime\u2019s nuclear program. <\/p>\n
That operation, called \u201cRising Lion,\u201d had two prongs: Heavy airstrikes against at least one of Iran\u2019s enrichment sites, and more targeted strikes in Tehran to decapitate the regime\u2019s military leadership. It aimed to halt what Israel said was Tehran\u2019s rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s attack came after years of threats and days of heightened speculation \u2013 but without the United States\u2019 blessing. The Trump administration stressed that Israel acted unilaterally and that Washington was \u201cnot involved.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation would continue \u201cfor as many days as it takes\u201d to eliminate Iran\u2019s nuclear threat. Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, says it has \u201cno option but to respond.\u201d <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know. <\/p>\n
Shortly after explosions rocked Tehran, Israel also struck elsewhere in the country. Israel\u2019s military said it used jets to strike \u201cdozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.\u201d <\/p>\n
An explosion was reported at Iran\u2019s main enrichment facility in Natanz, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Tehran. <\/p>\n
The United Nations\u2019 nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed that Natanz had been hit, but said it had not observed an increase in radiation levels in the area. <\/p>\n
Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, said other nuclear facilities in Iran \u2013 Isfahan, Bushehr and Fordow \u2013 were not impacted. The Fordow site is buried under a mountain, and is considered a much harder target for Israel. <\/p>\n
In a televised address, Netanyahu said Israel had taken action to \u201croll back the Iranian threat to Israel\u2019s very survival,\u201d and said it would continue its operation for as long as it takes \u201cto remove these threats.\u201d <\/p>\n
Netanyahu claimed that Iran had in recent years produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
\u201cIran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year, it could be within a few months,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a clear and present danger to Israel\u2019s survival.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said it had destroyed Iran\u2019s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles. <\/p>\n
Several of the most important men in Iran\u2019s military and its nuclear program were killed in Israel\u2019s strikes. <\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was the highest-profile of those killed. <\/p>\n
Israel also said it killed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran\u2019s armed forces; Ali Shamkhani, a close aide to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC\u2019s air force. <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s retaliation has already begun. The IDF said Tehran has fired more than 100 drones toward Israel and that Israeli defenses were working to intercept the drones. <\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian urged the Iranian people to remain unified and trust Iran\u2019s leadership. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe nation needs unity\u2026 more than ever,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
After a series of lethal and embarrassing Israeli blows against the Iranian regime, it is not clear how Tehran might attempt to exact retribution. <\/p>\n
Following previous Israeli attacks against Iran and its proxies in the region, Tehran fired back with huge salvos of ballistic missiles. <\/p>\n
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington DC, said this time it was \u201cpossible that Israel somehow disrupted Iran\u2019s response by targeting Iran\u2019s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Trump administration \u2013 which has been pursuing a diplomatic path with Iran in recent weeks \u2013 sought to distance itself from Israel\u2019s attack. <\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel\u2019s actions were \u201cunilateral.\u201d Although Israel notified the US ahead of its strikes, Rubio said the US was \u201cnot involved\u201d in the attack. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur top priority is protecting American forces in the region,\u201d he added. Earlier this week, the US had made efforts to arrange the departure of non-essential personnel from various countries in the Middle East, leading to speculation that an Israeli attack on Iran could be imminent. <\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump urged Iran to agree to a new nuclear deal \u201cbefore there is nothing left,\u201d suggesting that follow-up Israeli attacks on the country would be \u201ceven more brutal.\u201d <\/p>\n
Trump said he had given Iran \u201cchance after chance\u201d to make a deal. \u201cJUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. <\/p>\n
Under a 2015 nuclear deal struck by former US President Barack Obama, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to drastically limit its number of centrifuges and cap uranium enrichment at levels far below those required to make weapons, in exchange for sanctions relief. <\/p>\n
But during his first term as president in 2018, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, saying the \u201crotten structure\u201d of the agreement was not enough to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. He ramped up sanctions on Iran and threatened to sanction any country that helped the regime to obtain nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
In his second term, Trump has revived efforts to strike a new nuclear deal with Iran. Just hours before Israel\u2019s strikes, the president cautioned Israel against launching an attack while US-Iran talks are ongoing. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I think there is an agreement, I don\u2019t want them going in because that would blow it. Might help it, actually, but also could blow it,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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