Israel Strikes Iran's Nuclear Sites; Iran Retaliates — SkimNews
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- Israel launched an aerial assault on Iran's nuclear program and military leadership using about 200 aircraft against roughly 100 targets, with Mossad having pre-positioned explosive drones inside Iran to take out air defenses; Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.
- Iran retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles and more than 100 drones at Israel, killing at least three people — one woman at Beilinson Hospital in Tel Aviv and two in Rishon LeZion — and wounding dozens, including one woman critically injured under rubble in the Tel Aviv area.
- Among those killed were three of Iran's top military commanders: armed forces chief Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami, and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
- UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council the above-ground section of the Natanz enrichment facility was destroyed along with its electrical infrastructure and a section that enriched uranium up to 60%, though the underground centrifuge hall did not appear directly hit.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei called Sunday's planned US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman "meaningless," declaring "the U.S. did a job that made the talks become meaningless," though he stopped short of formally canceling them.
- Donald Trump urged Iran to "make a deal" on Truth Social, warning that Israel's attacks "will only get worse," while US ground-based air defenses in the region helped intercept Iranian missiles; Netanyahu said the US was informed in advance of the operation he ordered in November after the killing of Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah.
Why it matters: Iran's planned Sunday nuclear talks in Oman collapsed into 'meaningless' rhetoric as three of its top military commanders — including the Revolutionary Guard's ballistic missile chief — were killed and Natanz's above-ground enrichment infrastructure was destroyed. Israeli officials told media the operation is built to last up to two weeks, signaling the conflict is nowhere near a single-day exchange.
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