Israel Attacks Iranian Nuclear Sites, Killing Senior Military Figures And Scientists

June 13, 2025 In a sweeping series of airstrikes late Thursday, Israel struck across Iran, hitting the country’s

nuclear facilities, missile sites and many high-ranking military officers, including scientists involved in Iran’s weapons

constitutes one of the most direct clashes between the two regional heavyweights in years.

Iran retaliated almost immediately, sending more than 100 drones from Syria into Israel. Iranian state media

reported the deaths of several senior officials: Gen. Hossein Salami, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary

Guards Corps; Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the military’s chief of staff; two leading nuclear scientists; and another

senior general. Videos shared by Iranian media captured smoke billowing up from residential neighborhoods

that had been damaged in the attacks. In an address on Israeli television Monday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

vowed to mete out “a harsh punishment for the killers” of Fakhrizadeh.

operation when it was first announced, saying he believed that a diplomatic solution with Iran was still possible.

He stated that the U.S. received advance notice of the strikes but did not take part in the response militarily, and

he urged Iran to return to negotiations. The U.S. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) was put on high alert, bracing

for possible Iranian retaliation against American interests.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the top priority for the United States was keeping its people in

the region safe, and he made it clear that the decision to carry out the strikes was made entirely by Israel.

The United States also started evacuating diplomats and some American employees from Iraq, Bahrain

and Kuwait, and it enhanced air defenses at American posts across the Gulf.

Israel’s Emergency Response In Israel, where democracy and the fight against the virus converge.

In response to the attacks, Israel declared a nationwide state of emergency, putting the entire country on high alert.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz cautioned that citizens should get ready for upcoming drone and missile strikes from Iran.

All schools and most workplaces were ordered shut and the country’s airspace was closed. Israeli leaders

were evacuated to safe locations.

intelligence suggested Iran was ramping up its quest for a nuclear weapon and building a massive stockpile

of ballistic missiles that would threaten the Middle East and, soon, the world. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu declared that the campaign to block Iran from obtaining capabilities to build a nuclear bomb

would go on “as long as it is necessary,” because waiting any longer would have entailed losing “critical” visibility into Tehran’s progress.

Iran, meanwhile, insists it has no interest in nuclear weapons. The United States and Western allies have not

publicly joined Israel’s warnings about Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

Before the strikes, Israel signaled to the U.S. that it would stand down to see where Trump’s renewed nuclear

diplomacy with Iran led. Yet the magnitude and timing of the Israeli assault appear to have torched any

immediate hopes for a diplomatic deal. Now a planned sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks this Sunday seems

seriously in doubt. President Trump has called a meeting of his National Security Council to discuss the fast-moving crisis.

Iran has long threatened that it would attack U.S. assets in the region if its nuclear program were attacked.

Now both sides are preparing for another escalation, with Israel and Americans preparing for potential retaliatory strikes.

And the situation is still extremely volatile, with the danger of a more expansive conflict.

Israel Attacks Iranian Nuclear Sites, Killing Senior Military Figures and Scientists