Iran has launched several massive attacks on Israel following attacks on its nuclear facilities and key military targets. Within a few hours on Friday night, air raid sirens sounded across the country, including in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Israeli army called on the population on Saturday morning to seek shelter and remain there until further notice. Meanwhile, Iranian media reported fire and smoke over an airport in Tehran.
The latest air raid warning was triggered in "several regions of Israel" after rocket fire from Iran was detected, the Israeli army announced on the online service Telegram at 4:40 a.m. (local time, 3:40 a.m. CEST) on Saturday. The Israeli Air Force reportedly deployed to intercept the missiles and, "where necessary, eliminate the threat." Shortly thereafter, Iranian state television reported a new wave of attacks on Israel.
As a journalist from the AFP news agency reported, smoke rose above the skyscrapers in downtown Tel Aviv following the latest Iranian attack. The Israeli Fire Service announced that its teams were in action. Rescue workers rushed to a high-rise building where people were trapped as a result of the attacks. Resident Chen Gabison told AFP that he immediately ran to an underground shelter after receiving the warning message. "After a few minutes, we heard a huge explosion, and everything shook," he said. There was smoke and dust everywhere.
A few hours earlier, AFP journalists had reported air raid sirens and explosions in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv following a third wave of Iranian attacks. Iranian state television reported a "new wave of rocket attacks" against Israel, launched from Tehran and the western Iranian city of Kermanshah. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.
Throughout the night, the Israeli army repeatedly called on the population to seek shelter. While the regulations were initially lifted, after the latest wave of Iranian attacks, people were instructed to remain there until further notice.
Iran had already launched two waves of ballistic missile attacks against Israel on Friday evening. According to the Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, 34 people were hospitalized with injuries after the first two waves of attacks in the region around the densely populated coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv. A 60-year-old woman who was critically injured in the first wave of attacks on Friday later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.
Meanwhile, in the Iranian capital Tehran, fire and thick smoke were seen over Mehrabad Airport early Saturday morning, an AFP journalist reported. Local media reported an explosion in the area. Iran had previously announced that it had activated its air defense system. Explosions were heard throughout the capital. In Tehran, dozens of people took to the streets overnight to celebrate their country's military response. Some waved national flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans.
According to Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Irawani, 78 people were killed and 320 others injured in Friday's Israeli attack. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on both sides to de-escalate. "Enough of the escalation. It's time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail," he wrote late Friday evening on the online service X.
The Iranian retaliatory attacks followed a major Israeli raid on military targets in Iran on Friday morning, including in the capital Tehran, the central province of Isfahan, and other parts of the country. According to Israeli sources, the attacks targeted Iran's nuclear program, military installations, and high-ranking military and nuclear scientists. Among those killed in the attacks were the heads of the Iranian army and the powerful Revolutionary Guard, as well as virtually the entire leadership of the Revolutionary Guard's air force.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of "one of the largest military operations" in his country's history. In a video message, he called on the people of Iran to rise up against the "evil and oppressive regime" in Tehran. Israel justified its "preemptive strike" against Iran with the country's advanced nuclear program. Intelligence information had provided evidence that Tehran could now "enrich uranium to military levels" and build a nuclear weapon "within a short period of time."
According to London sources, the Iranian nuclear program was also the subject of a telephone call between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump. Both agreed on "the importance of diplomacy and dialogue," Downing Street said on Friday. Starmer also reiterated "the United Kingdom's grave concern about Iran's nuclear programs."
Western states have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons for years. Tehran denies the allegations. At the end of May, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was made public, according to which Iran had significantly increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent over the past three months. An enrichment level of approximately 90 percent is required to build nuclear weapons.
Israel has felt its very existence threatened by Iran for decades. Iran has denied Israel's right to exist since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In April 2024, Iran attacked Israel directly from its territory for the first time, firing more than 300 rockets and drones. Tehran supports several Islamist militias in the region, including Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.
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