Netanyahu’s Iran strike comes just hours after Trump warned that Iran could attack the Revolutionary Guards HQ in Iran, as reported by NPR
In a statement shortly after the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel believed Iran had recently restarted its program to build a nuclear weapon. “If not stopped, Iran could produce a weapon in a very short time,” he said in prepared remarks shortly after the strike. Netanyahu stated that the goal was to hit the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
“It’s clear Iran is just buying for time; it refuses to agree to this basic requirement of peaceful nations. That is why we have no choice but to act and act now,” Netanyahu said.
The country said its air force carried out a large-scale strike against the Iranian air defenses. More than 50 radars and missile launchers were destroyed in the strikes.
The news came just hours after President Trump warned that an attack on Iran could happen. “It looks like it’s something that could very well happen. Look, it’s very simple, not complicated. Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. Other than that, I want them to be successful. I want them to be great. “We will help them be successful.” Trump had warned that a military option could be on the table if talks with Iran did not result in a reduction in its nuclear program. His Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff had been due to meet Iranian negotiators in Oman on Sunday
Sirens also sounded across Israel in the hours before dawn: an Israel military official told NPR the alarms were pre-emptive. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a statement declaring a “special state of emergency” across the country, and to expects missile and drone retaliation.
There were multiple reports from Tehran that loud explosions had been heard in the northeast of the Iranian capital. Iranian state TV has reported that Israel has struck the Revolutionary Guards’ headquarters in Tehran, killing the Commander Hossein Salami. The Revolutionary Guards are a powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces, wielding significant political and military influence.
A military official told NPR that Israel had carried out dozens of air strikes in Iran. The official said that Israel’s air force was hitting the country’s nuclear sites because of their allegation that Tehran was building a bomb.
“Unless the Israelis can keep bombing them indefinitely,” he says, “they will always have the ability to technically reconstitute the program if they make a decision to do so.”
Lewis is unsure if military force can completely eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. There is no single scientist or facility that holds the key to Iran’s nuclear program, according to him.
There was no evidence that Israel struck at tunnels deep beneath the mountain. Iran was reportedly digging those tunnels to create a more fortified facility for its centrifuges. In recent days it had pledged that it would accelerate development of a third centrifuge site, possibly in the mountain facility.
“That’s likely to disrupt operations at the plant, but crucially, what they didn’t do was find a way to destroy the thousands of centrifuges that are buried underground,” Lewis says.
Several buildings at the Natanz site have been damaged by satellite images. The images show the damage to support equipment, including an electrical substation, and buildings that may provide power and access to the underground structures.
The damage from the first wave of attacks is believed to have been limited by preliminary analysis of satellite imagery at the site.
Israel’s nuclear enrichment program is peaceful, a statement reads: “A nuclear weapon is not a weapon, the enemy is the enemy”
It’s unclear how quickly that material could practically be converted into bombs. During the enrichment process, the uranium is stored as a gas. It must be separated and turned into metal, which is then used to make components for a nuclear device. Iran had a covert program to research a nuclear weapon in the early 2000s, but it has never built a weapon before and doesn’t plan on doing so.
The first strike took place in the opening hours of the Israeli air campaign. The Israel military said that it had struck the largest enrichment facility in Iran. The underground area of the site was damaged during the strikes. The statement reads that the area contains a multi-story enrichment hall, with electrical rooms and additional supporting infrastructure.
Grossi said during a meeting of the agency’s board of governors that nuclear facilities must never be attacked.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a statement that the Natanz plant was undamaged, but that there was damage caused by the attack.
Later Friday morning, Israel said it intercepted Iranian drones while Jordan said its air force blocked attacks aimed at Israel in Jordanian airspace. Jordan, Israel, Iran and Iraq closed their airspace to civilian traffic while other countries diverted or canceled flights.
Iran has been declared in violation of non- proliferation agreements by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran’s enrichment program is peaceful, it says.