Iran launches missiles at Israel as Israel attacks Iran's nuclear sites

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Warning sirens sounded crossed Israel connected Friday arsenic Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles successful a retaliatory onslaught aft Israel launched overnight airstrikes.

Around 100 missiles were fired from Iran successful 2 salvos, officials said. Israel has a robust rocket defence strategy known arsenic the Iron Dome, which intercepted astir of the missiles, the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF reported a constricted fig of hits connected structures, immoderate from interception failures.

Video and photos showing a fig of buildings damaged oregon connected fire, though the afloat grade of the harm is not yet clear. The IDF reported that 21 radical had been injured and 2 were successful superior condition.

A U.S. authoritative and a White House authoritative confirmed to CBS News that the United States helped Israel intercept Iranian missiles.

During the strikes, U.S. troops astatine 2 bases successful the Middle East were ordered into bunkers. Troops astatine Union III successful the Green Zone successful Baghdad, Iraq, and Al-Tanf Garrison successful Syria spent astir an hr successful the bunkers, CBS News confirmed.

A 3rd question of missiles is not expected, CBS News contributor Robert Berger reported, and radical successful Israel person been told they tin permission their weaponry shelters.

The retaliatory enactment from Iran came aft Israel launched implicit 200 airstrikes connected Iran — continuing a major operation that began overnight, IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Friday. Israel's airstrikes are continuing, Defrin said.

Israel archetypal launched airstrikes connected Iran aboriginal Friday and announced its cognition was targeting Iranian atomic facilities, scientists and elder subject commanders.

Tehran responded by launching much than 100 drones astatine Israel connected Friday morning, Israel's subject said. Defrin said earlier Friday that Israel's aerial defenses had worked to "intercept the threats." Later Friday, an Israeli subject authoritative told reporters that portion the menace wasn't over, Israel had managed to intercept galore of Iran's UAVs.

"Throughout the day, we erstwhile again demonstrated our quality to region threats successful a coordinated, precise and daring manner," Defrin said Friday nighttime section time.

In a televised connection connected Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Iranian Armed Forces would respond fiercely to the strikes and permission Israel "helpless."

Shortly aft the statement, the IDF confirmed that its combatant jets had "completed a onslaught connected the Iranian regime's atomic tract successful the Isfahan area." Ishafan is successful cardinal Iran. The onslaught "dismantled a installation for producing metallic uranium, infrastructure for reconverting enriched uranium, laboratories and further infrastructure," the IDF said.

The U.S. was not progressive successful Israel's strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding a informing that "Iran should not people U.S. interests oregon personnel."

President Trump said successful a station Friday morning connected his Truth Social media level that helium had fixed Iran "chance aft chance" to marque a woody with the U.S. connected its atomic program, but that contempt his warnings to Tehran that the alternate would beryllium "much worse" than thing seen before, "they conscionable couldn't get it done."

"There has already been large decease and destruction, but determination is inactive clip to marque this slaughter, with the adjacent already planned attacks being adjacent much brutal, travel to an end," Mr. Trump said. "Iran indispensable marque a deal, earlier determination is thing left."

In a aboriginal station connected Friday, Mr. Trump said helium "gave Iran a 60 time ultimatum to 'make a deal.' They should person done it! Today is time 61. I told them what to do, but they conscionable couldn't get there. Now they have, perhaps, a 2nd chance!"

Israel has intercepted virtually each Iranian limb launched successful erstwhile large-scale attacks by the Islamic republic. The retaliatory enactment by Iran was agelong anticipated and good planned for, Defrin said.

Iran's President Mahsoud Pezeshkian said Friday connected Iranian TV that the state would "strongly instrumentality action" against Israel successful effect to the attacks, promising "a severe, omniscient and beardown answer."

"The Iranian federation and the country's officials volition not stay soundless successful the look of this crime, and the morganatic and almighty effect of the Islamic Republic of Iran volition marque the force regret its foolish act," helium said.

Israel says it destroyed Iran's aerial defenses, killed apical commanders

Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the IDF had begun "Operation Rising Lion," with a monolithic question of airstrikes against dozens of Iranian atomic sites, subject commanders and probe scientists, saying the extremity was to "roll backmost the Iranian menace to Israel's precise survival."

Like Netanyahu, Defrin, the IDF spokesman, called the onslaught connected Iran preemptive successful a video connection delivered Friday, saying Israeli quality had uncovered an Iranian "plan to destruct Israel that has taken signifier successful caller years." He said that program progressive Iran "racing towards a atomic bomb," moving to treble oregon triple its ballistic rocket stockpile, and continuing to "finance, arm, and run its proxies passim the Middle East against the State of Israel."

"I tin corroborate that the elder information enactment of the Iranian authorities has been eliminated successful the strike: the Iranian Chief of Staff, [Mohammad] Bagheri; the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, [Hossein] Salami; and the Head of the Emergency Command, [Gholamali] Rashid," Defrin said, adding that different commanders had been killed and that Israeli would supply further updates. He said Israel had "targeted and struck the Iranian regime's aerial defence arrays."

Senior Iranian commanders killed successful Israeli attacks

The IDF said its cognition would proceed for days, but that the archetypal question consisted of 200 Israeli combatant jets dropping "over 330 antithetic munitions," to deed much than 100 targets successful Iran.

"The breadth and standard of these strikes — against elder Iranian officials and different subject facilities successful summation to atomic sites — suggest this cognition is intended to not conscionable dissuade Iran from pursuing atomic weapons, but besides cripple immoderate imaginable subject effect and adjacent to destabilize the regime," Matthew Savill, Director of Military Sciences astatine the Royal United Services Institute, a British subject deliberation tank, said successful a statement. "Israel has erstwhile again demonstrated its sizeable accepted subject superiority, and the size of the unit allegedly assembled for this bid of attacks represents the overwhelming bulk of their longer-range onslaught aircraft. They person the quality to behaviour aggregate specified rounds of strikes, but operating for an extended duration implicit this sizeable scope volition agelong adjacent the Israeli Air Force."

Savill said Iran's effect "might beryllium delayed oregon divided into aggregate phases, but their main limb volition beryllium ballistic missiles, which person the champion accidental of inflicting harm connected Israel, whereas drone and cruise rocket attacks volition look much extended Israeli defenses. Israel operations person truthful targeted aerial defenses and ballistic rocket sites to forestall this."

Savill said that if Iran "believes the U.S. oregon others were involved" successful the Israeli strike, past their retaliation could see targeting the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based successful Bahrain, and American aerial facilities successful Qatar, "though some would widen the struggle to resistance successful others."

NATO main urges de-escalation, says atomic clash "not close"

Iranian authorities media said the Israeli strikes had deed respective cities, including successful the superior of Tehran and the metropolis of Natanz, a cardinal halfway for Iran's uranium enrichment program. The IDF said it struck Iran's uranium enrichment tract successful the Natanz area.

"The underground country of the tract was damaged," the IDF said successful a statement. "This country contains a multi-story enrichment hallway with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and further supporting infrastructure. In addition, captious infrastructure enabling the site's continuous cognition and the Iranian regime's ongoing efforts to get atomic weapons were targeted."

The United Nations' atomic watchdog agency, the IAEA, said successful a bid of societal media posts that its Director General, Rafael Grossi, had been successful interaction with Iranian authorities connected Friday, who told him the country's highly-sensitive and highly-secured Fordo atomic tract "has not been impacted" by the Israeli strikes. Later Friday, Reuters reported that 2 explosions had been heard adjacent the tract and that authorities media said Iranian aerial defenses had changeable down an Israeli drone adjacent the facility.

The IAEA besides said Iran's "Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant had not been targeted and that nary summation successful radiation levels has been observed astatine the Natanz site."

On Friday, during a sojourn to Sweden, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters that "this was a unilateral enactment by Israel. So I deliberation it is important for galore allies, including the United States, to enactment arsenic we talk to de-escalate."

Despite the ongoing attacks, Rutte said helium believed the portion was "not close" to a imaginable atomic conflict.

While determination person been nary claims that Iran has yet built a atomic weapon, Israel is believed to person aggregate warheads, though it has ne'er formally confirmed nor denied its presumption arsenic a nuclear-armed nation.

Iranian officials rapidly threatened retaliation to the attack, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Israel "should await a harsh response."

The IDF said successful a connection earlier Iran's retaliatory strikes that it had prepared for "a run connected the frontline and connected the location front."

Netanyahu said Israel's strikes against Iran, "will proceed for arsenic galore days arsenic it takes to region this threat."

Shortly aft Israel's strikes, the U.S. Embassy successful Israel ordered American unit to structure successful place.

A time beforehand, the Trump administration ordered non-emergency U.S. unit to permission Iraq and allowed U.S. subject household members to permission the Middle East voluntarily.

Risk of an escalating determination conflict

Israel has carried retired strikes against Iranian proxies successful caller years, portion Iran has backed foes of Israel, including the militant radical Hamas.

In April of past year, Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel aft a onslaught connected Iran's consulate in Damascus was wide attributed to Israel, but the Israeli subject intercepted the immense bulk of the weapons.

Six months later, Iran launched more missiles astatine Israel, which retaliated with strikes connected Iranian sites.

Friday's back-and-forth could escalate to beryllium among the astir terrible clashes betwixt Israel and Iran, which person been adversaries for decades. Mr. Trump warned earlier successful the week that the strikes could snowball into a "massive" conflict.

Farea Al-Muslimi, a probe chap astatine the Chatham House deliberation tank, said successful a connection Friday that the Iran-backed Houthis successful Yemen could play a relation successful the Iranian effect to Israel.

"With Iran presently weakened and humiliated, this marks the archetypal clip the Houthis volition beryllium called upon to repay decades of Iranian concern and support," Al-Muslimi predicted. "Following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah successful Lebanon and the collapse of the Assad regime successful Syria, the Houthis person efficaciously go Iran's archetypal enactment of defence against Israel — an progressively cardinal role."

Al-Muslimi said the Houthi effect could widen beyond retaliatory strikes connected Israel itself.

"Strikes successful the Red Sea volition apt resume, the ceasefire with the United States whitethorn unravel, and we shouldn't beryllium amazed if Saudi Arabia and the UAE are dragged backmost into nonstop struggle successful Yemen," Al-Muslimi said. "Attacks by the Houthis connected U.S. subject bases successful the Gulf, the Horn of Africa, and naval forces astatine oversea are besides highly plausible."

Fabian Hinz, an aerial warfare adept astatine London's International Institute of Strategic Studies, told the Associated Press that Iran's existent capabilities are perchance "more threatening to the U.S. subject than to Israel."

Iran has a "huge arsenal" of shorter-range missiles, Hinz said, and determination are a fig of U.S. subject bases successful the region. He said Iran besides has "lots of anti-ship capabilities."

"Think of the Iranian shipping menace arsenic akin successful prime to the Houthi threat, but overmuch larger successful quantity," Hinz told the AP.

Israeli onslaught casts uncertainty connected destiny of U.S.-Iran atomic talks

The Israeli strikes and Iranian counterattack came amid efforts by President Trump to onslaught a caller woody with Iran to bounds the country's atomic ambitions — an thought Israel has agelong been dubious of.

The U.S. and Iran were acceptable to clasp talks Sunday, aggregate U.S. officials told CBS News. There was nary contiguous remark from immoderate high-ranking Iranian officials that those plans would alteration aft Israel's attack, but immoderate reports successful Iranian media outlets indicated Iran would apt nary longer enactment successful the negotiations.

"With Israel's actions, the sixth circular of negotiations with the United States volition astir apt not beryllium held," Iranian lawmaker Aladdin Boroujerdi, a subordinate of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said, according to Iranian media.

Michal Ben-Gal, Seyed Bathaei, Jennifer Jacobs and Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh is simply a elder exertion for integer authorities astatine CBS News. Joe antecedently covered breaking quality for Forbes and section quality successful Boston.

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