Middle East braces for 'all out war' after Israel strikes against Iran and Tehran responds with 'around 100 drones'
13 June 2025, 05:48 | Updated: 13 June 2025, 11:15
Israel has launched targeted strikes on Iran's nuclear and military facilities, killing atomic scientists and the head of the army - as Iran retaliates with 100 drones.
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An Israeli official said the strikes, named Operation Rising Lion, targeted "Iran's nuclear programme and other military targets".
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said Iran launched "approximately 100" drones towards Israel, which he says they are working to intercept.
Explosions were heard northeast of Iran's capital Tehran early on Friday, according to Iran's state-run Nour News.
Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, and Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization, have both been killed in the strikes.
Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces, has also been killed, Iran's state television reported.
There was also a blast heard at Natanz nuclear facility, south of Tehran, Reuters reported.
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear power station
At least six military bases around Tehran as well as homes of military commanders and multiple residential buildings have also been hit, citing senior Iranian officials, The New York Times reports.
A spokesperson for Iran's armed forces has said that the US and Israel will pay a "heavy price" for the strikes.
"The armed forces will certainly respond to this Zionist attack," said Iranian spokesperson, Abolfazl Shekarchi.
Israel's defence minister has announced a "special state of emergency" in the country and said schools would stay closed on Friday.
The state's military said a "pre-emptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence" had been launched.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the with this attack Israel "has prepared a bitter fate for itself, which it will surely receive".
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Iran and Israel to "step back and reduce tensions urgently".
"Escalation serves no-one in the region," he said.
"Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy."
The head of the United Nations has called for "maximum restraint" and condemned Israel's strikes.
"The Secretary-General asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford," a UN spokesperson, speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said.
Iran has called on the international community to condemn the Israeli attacks which "exposes global security to unprecedented threat".
People in Israel were woken in the early hours by air raid sirens and a phone alert warning there could be "severe retaliation", Sky News reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli citizens to follow military guidance and stay sheltered for an extended period of time.
A statement from defence minister Israel Katz said: "Following the State of Israel's pre-emptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future."
The strikes come amid concerns over Iran's nuclear programme - with a warning this week that Iran is not complying with its obligations for the first time in 20 years.
Israel and the US have feared that a nuclear weapon could be developed, which Iran has repeatedly denied.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Israel has taken "unilateral action" and that the US was not involved in the strikes.
Mr Rubio said the strikes were necessary for its self defence and that "necessary steps" had been implemented to protect US forces in the region.
He warned: "Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel."
President Donald Trump told Fox News he knew about the strikes, but he reiterated that the US were not involved.
"Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see," he said.
Statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2025
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its… pic.twitter.com/5FFesh3dkF
Flights that were bound for Tel Aviv have been diverted, according to images from flight tracking site FlightRadar24, with the airspace over Israel clear.
The Israeli Defence Force said on X: "The State of Israel has no choice but to fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens."
The statement continued: "Dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.
"Today, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world."
In a video statement shared on X, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
"This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
Netanyahu claimed Iran had in recent years developed enough highly enriched uranium for "nine atom bombs".
