Israeli military targeted Iran’s nuclear scientist and military sites and Iran vows painful and bitter revenge.
As expected, Israel launched widespread strikes across Iran Friday morning, reportedly targeting nuclear facilities and military sites, including in Tehran, Natanz, Tabriz, and Isfahan. Israel stated the operation aimed to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.” This attack reportedly involved over 200 fighter jets.
Iranian state media confirmed the deaths of several senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. This includes:
- Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri: Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
- Gen. Hossein Salami: Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid: Senior IRGC commander and head of the central headquarters of the Iranian military.
- Fereydoon Abbasi: Nuclear scientist and former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.
- Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi: Nuclear scientist.
- Abdolhamid Minoucher: Nuclear scientist.
- Other unnamed senior figures of the Iranian General Staff and leaders of the nuclear program were also reportedly eliminated.
Prior to these recent strikes, there have been other assassinations attributed to Israel:
- Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (November 2020): Iran’s top nuclear scientist.
- Col. Sayad Khodayee (May 2022): An officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
- Ayoub Entezari (May 2022): Aeronautical engineer.
- Kamran Aghamolaei (May 2022): Geologist.
- Razi Mousavi (December 2023): Senior Iranian general in Syria.
- Brigadier General Sadegh Omidzadeh (January 2024): Intelligence officer with the IRGC Quds Force.
- Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (April 2024): Killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, along with other IRGC officers.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, and Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, were also killed in Israeli attacks.
- Ismail Haniyeh: Was assassinated on July 31, 2024, in Tehran, Iran, by what was described as an Israeli attack, likely involving a remotely detonated explosive device. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz later confirmed Israel’s role in the killing in December 2024.
- Hassan Nasrallah: Was killed on September 27, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut. The Israeli Air Force reportedly used F-15I fighters and dropped over 80 bombs to destroy the underground facility where he and other senior Hezbollah commanders were meeting. Israel’s Defense Minister also confirmed Nasrallah’s killing in December 2024.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson stated after Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities: “We have no choice. We are operating against an imminent and existential threat. We cannot allow the Iranian regime to obtain a nuclear weapon that would be a danger to Israel and the entire world.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel that it “must expect severe punishment” following the “crime” of attacking Iran and killing several commanders and scientists. In retaliation, Tehran has launched 100 drones towards Israel, which Israel is intercepting outside of the Israeli territory. Supreme Leader has already warned Israel that it will face a bitter and painful fate over the attacks. Iran has closed its airspace, while Israel has declared a state of emergency following its preemptive strikes against Iran that targeted nuclear plants and military sites.
