• Israel strikes Iran: Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days. The attack plunges the Middle East into fresh uncertainty, increasing the risk of a regional war as Israel braces for Iran’s retaliation.
• Top commander killed: General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, was among those killed in the attacks. He was among the country’s most powerful and influential figures. The IRGC oversees its ballistic missile development and crushes dissent in the country.
• Nuclear targets: Netanyahu said “Operation Rising Lion” struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists, and what he called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.”
• US position: There was no US involvement or US assistance in the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “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,” he said.
CNN WORLD
Israel strikes Iran nuclear sites and military leadership, as Middle East braces for retaliation
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Re: Israel strikes Iran nuclear sites and military leadership, as Middle East braces for retaliation
Analysis: Why Israel’s attack on Iran could spiral into a regional war — and drag in the US
• Israel strikes Iran: Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days. The attack plunges the Middle East into fresh uncertainty, increasing the risk of a regional war as Israel braces for Iran’s retaliation.
• Top commander killed: General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, was among those killed in the attacks. He was among the country’s most powerful and influential figures. The IRGC oversees its ballistic missile development and crushes dissent in the country.
• Nuclear targets: Netanyahu said “Operation Rising Lion” struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists, and what he called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.”
• US position: There was no US involvement or US assistance in the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “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,” he said.
From CNN’s Helen Regan
Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities could trigger a massive Iranian retaliation and threaten to tip the region into a full-scale war, analysts and experts have long warned.
And if Israel and Iran become entangled in wider conflict, it could risk drawing in the United States into the fray. That is because the US has long been Israel’s closest ally and biggest weapons supplier.
Indications of that risk emerged earlier this week as the US ordered the departure of non-essential personnel from locations around the Middle East as intelligence warnings increased that an Israeli strike on Iran was imminent.
Israeli officials said Friday they were bracing for an Iranian retaliation, declaring a special state of emergency across the state.
There will be widespread fear among those living in Israel and across the Middle East as Israel’s strikes throw the region into uncharted territory.
Iran oversees a so-called “Axis of Resistance” across the region that includes loyal proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen as well as various militia groups in Iraq and Syria.
Experts say an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would also likely spell the end of its negotiations with the US.
Last year Israel and Iran’s years-long proxy war erupted into the open with a series of direct missile strikes on each other.
At the time, the US warned Israel not to strike Iran’s energy or nuclear infrastructure. And Iran rushed to downplay the strikes, responding with visually powerful but carefully calibrated retaliation that caused limited damage.
Friday’s attack by Israel goes much further, striking at the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military complex. Israel hit Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and killed General Hossein Salami - the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to multiple Iranian state media outlets.
CNN’s security analyst Beth Sanner said that removing Salami is akin to taking out the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff: “You can imagine what Americans would do,” she said.
Iran is now “under existential threat” and as such, the Israelis will be expecting “a massive, much bigger retaliation than what they saw last time,” Sanner added.
• Israel strikes Iran: Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days. The attack plunges the Middle East into fresh uncertainty, increasing the risk of a regional war as Israel braces for Iran’s retaliation.
• Top commander killed: General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, was among those killed in the attacks. He was among the country’s most powerful and influential figures. The IRGC oversees its ballistic missile development and crushes dissent in the country.
• Nuclear targets: Netanyahu said “Operation Rising Lion” struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists, and what he called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.”
• US position: There was no US involvement or US assistance in the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “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,” he said.
From CNN’s Helen Regan
Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities could trigger a massive Iranian retaliation and threaten to tip the region into a full-scale war, analysts and experts have long warned.
And if Israel and Iran become entangled in wider conflict, it could risk drawing in the United States into the fray. That is because the US has long been Israel’s closest ally and biggest weapons supplier.
Indications of that risk emerged earlier this week as the US ordered the departure of non-essential personnel from locations around the Middle East as intelligence warnings increased that an Israeli strike on Iran was imminent.
Israeli officials said Friday they were bracing for an Iranian retaliation, declaring a special state of emergency across the state.
There will be widespread fear among those living in Israel and across the Middle East as Israel’s strikes throw the region into uncharted territory.
Iran oversees a so-called “Axis of Resistance” across the region that includes loyal proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen as well as various militia groups in Iraq and Syria.
Experts say an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would also likely spell the end of its negotiations with the US.
Last year Israel and Iran’s years-long proxy war erupted into the open with a series of direct missile strikes on each other.
At the time, the US warned Israel not to strike Iran’s energy or nuclear infrastructure. And Iran rushed to downplay the strikes, responding with visually powerful but carefully calibrated retaliation that caused limited damage.
Friday’s attack by Israel goes much further, striking at the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military complex. Israel hit Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and killed General Hossein Salami - the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to multiple Iranian state media outlets.
CNN’s security analyst Beth Sanner said that removing Salami is akin to taking out the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff: “You can imagine what Americans would do,” she said.
Iran is now “under existential threat” and as such, the Israelis will be expecting “a massive, much bigger retaliation than what they saw last time,” Sanner added.