Israel attacks Iran: Follow LIVE updates as Israel carries out strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military targets. Israel has declared a state of emergency following ‘pre-emptive’ strikes on Iran; an Israeli military source said several nuclear and military assets were targeted
Israeli military official said Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets. The official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.
- 1 What is known about Iran’s nuclear programme
- 2 Israeli military says Iran launched over 100 drones at Israel in past few hours
- 3 Israeli strike kills Gen Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces
- 4 Indians in Iran advised to avoid unnecessary travel after Israel launches strikes
- 5 Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Core
- 6 At Iran’s principal uranium enrichment site at Natanz, black smoke was seen billowing into the air hours after the first wave of airstrikes.
- 7 Other Nuclear Facilities
- 8 Tehran Under Fire
What is known about Iran’s nuclear programme
On June 13, 10.07am Israel said it commenced a campaign to strike “dozens” of nuclear and military targets in Iran even as the U.S. and Tehran were engaged in talks for the West Asian country to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for lowering sanctions.
Earlier this year, fears over Iran’s increasing capability to make nuclear weapons prompted Tel Aviv to clarify it won’t hold back from bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Such a strike was however deemed unlikely should Israel lack U.S. backing. U.S. President Donald Trump had signalled he preferred the path of diplomacy first but also that military action would follow if talks collapsed.
June 13, 2025 10:54
Israeli military says Iran launched over 100 drones at Israel in past few hours
Israel’s military says Iran is launching drones in retaliation for its strikes on Terhan.
Brig Gen Effie Deffrin, Israel’s chief army spokesman: “In the last few hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, and all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats.” Defrin added that some 200 Israeli fighter jets participated in the operation, striking some 100 targets, and that the attacks were continuing.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s civil aviation authority said the country’s airspace will be closed for all flights, following other regional air authorities.
The Jordan News Agency said the temporary measure is out concern of any dangers related to the escalation in the region.
June 13, 2025 10:30
Israeli strike kills Gen Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces
An Israeli airstrike killed Gen Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Iranian state television reported on Friday (June 13, 2025).
Bagheri is a former top commander within Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The state TV report offered no further details.
June 13, 2025 10:00am
Indians in Iran advised to avoid unnecessary travel after Israel launches strikes
Indians in Iran on Friday were advised by the embassy to remain vigilant, avoid all unnecessary movements and observe safety protocols following the launch of Israel’s strikes on the country.
The Indian Embassy in Tehran in an advisory posted on X said, “In view of the current situation in Iran, all Indian nationals & persons of Indian origin in Iran are requested to remain vigilant, avoid all unnecessary movements, follow the Embassy’s Social Media accounts & observe safety protocols as advised by local authorities.”
Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Core
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit multiple sensitive locations across Iran. Chief among these was the sprawling Natanz complex, spread across roughly 100,000 square metres in Isfahan province and partially buried beneath the desert plains of central Iran. Natanz is home to thousands of centrifuges and has long been at the centre of Western and Israeli concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
While the extent of the damage at Natanz remains unclear, early images broadcast briefly by Iranian state media and dozens of open-source intelligence reports showed fires near the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP). The below-ground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), which is three stories deep, is considered more resistant to conventional airstrikes. Yet analysts say even limited surface damage could disrupt operations in Iran’s most fortified nuclear installation.
This marks the most direct Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure since the Stuxnet cyberattack over a decade ago.
Israel’s Operation Rising Lion: A Look Inside Iran’s Key Nuclear Sites
At Iran’s principal uranium enrichment site at Natanz, black smoke was seen billowing into the air hours after the first wave of airstrikes.
- Edited by:Samiran Mishra
- World News
- Jun 13, 2025 09:07 am IST
- Published OnJun 13, 2025 08:37 am IST
- Last Updated OnJun 13, 2025 09:07 am IST
Read Time:5 mins
The Natanz nuclear facility.
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New Delhi:
In pre-dawn strikes termed Operation Rising Lion, dozens of Israeli jets launched a sweeping aerial assault across Iranian territory on Friday, hitting multiple high-value nuclear and military targets. Chief among them was Iran’s principal uranium enrichment site at Natanz, where black smoke was seen billowing into the air hours after the first wave of airstrikes.
In a sudden escalation of hostilities between the two countries, Iranian state television later confirmed the death of Major General Hossein Salami, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in what it called “a direct assassination by Zionist forces.”
He had served as the public face of Iran’s military strategy and was seen as the strategist of its proxy warfare policy, particularly in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iranian state television further reported the deaths of another senior IRGC commander, whose name has not been released, and two prominent nuclear scientists linked to Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.
The Iranian government has declared a state of national mourning.
Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Core
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit multiple sensitive locations across Iran. Chief among these was the sprawling Natanz complex, spread across roughly 100,000 square metres in Isfahan province and partially buried beneath the desert plains of central Iran. Natanz is home to thousands of centrifuges and has long been at the centre of Western and Israeli concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
While the extent of the damage at Natanz remains unclear, early images broadcast briefly by Iranian state media and dozens of open-source intelligence reports showed fires near the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP). The below-ground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), which is three stories deep, is considered more resistant to conventional airstrikes. Yet analysts say even limited surface damage could disrupt operations in Iran’s most fortified nuclear installation.
This marks the most direct Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure since the Stuxnet cyberattack over a decade ago.
READ | How CIA, Mossad Used A Computer Virus To Dismantle Iran’s Nuclear Program
Iran’s Nuclear Infrastructure
According to reports, over the past five years, Iran has steadily accelerated its uranium enrichment programme, shortening the time it would take to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. This “breakout time”, the period needed to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels sufficient for one nuclear device, reportedly shrunk to just a few weeks, according to a Reuters report from 2024. Under the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that timeframe was estimated at over a year.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that Iran possesses enough 60 per cent enriched uranium, if enriched further to 90 per cent, to manufacture nearly four nuclear warheads. Tehran maintains that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.
Other Nuclear Facilities
Fordow
While Natanz remains the most significant site in Iran’s nuclear architecture, Fordow, located in the city of Qom, south of Tehran is its most fortified.
Built covertly and revealed in 2009 by the United States, Britain, and France, Fordow is dug deep into a mountain, offering protection against aerial or missile strikes. Then-US President Barack Obama declared the facility’s size and structure to be “inconsistent with a peaceful nuclear programme.”
Originally prohibited from enrichment activity under the JCPOA, Fordow hosts more than 1,000 centrifuges, including a growing number of IR-6 advanced centrifuges, some of which are enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity, as per US and international media reports.
In 2024, Iran doubled the number of centrifuges installed at the site, all of them IR-6s, enhancing its capacity to quickly escalate to weapons-grade enrichment levels if it chooses.
Isfahan
Isfahan is a multi-purpose nuclear complex located in the outskirts of Isfahan in central Iran. The Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) here is where yellowcake uranium is processed into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the gaseous form used in centrifuges for enrichment.
Khondab
Khondab is located near the city of Arak in western Iran. Originally known as the Arak Heavy Water Reactor, the Khondab facility has potential to produce plutonium, another pathway to a nuclear bomb.
Under the JCPOA, construction was halted, and the original core was removed and rendered inoperable with concrete. The reactor was slated for a redesign intended to minimise plutonium output and make it unusable for weapons purposes.
Tehran Research Reactor
The capital’s research reactor is primarily used for academic and medical purposes. The reactor, supplied by the United States in the 1960s, uses fuel that Iran has enriched domestically in recent years.
Although not designed for weapons-grade production, the research centre also serves as a training ground for Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers.
Bushehr
Located in southern Iran, on the Persian Gulf coast, Bushehr is Iran’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant. Constructed with Russian assistance, the facility is powered by Russian-supplied fuel, which is returned to Russia after use.
Tehran Under Fire
Residents of Tehran woke to the sound of explosions and air raid sirens in the early hours of Friday morning. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the western district of Chitgar, although there are no publicly known nuclear facilities in that area.
Hours later, the Iranian Civil Aviation Authority announced the closure of the country’s airspace. Israel also declared a full airspace lockdown and heightened emergency readiness along its northern and southern borders.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz released a statement confirming Israeli responsibility for the attack, noting: “Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future.”
