Israel Strikes Iran’s Nuclear and Military Sites

AFP

Site of the Israeli attack in Iran.

Explosions echoed across the Iranian capital in the early hours of Friday, 13 June 2025, as Israel launched air strikes targeting what it described as nuclear and military facilities in Tehran. The operation marks a significant escalation amid growing international concern over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

Iranian state media reported that the the nation's top military official, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri and Hossein Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed.

Six nuclear scientists were also killed by Israeli strikes in Iran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which identified the assassinated scientists as Abdulhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Seyyed Amirhossein Faqhi, Motablizadeh, Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi, and Fereydoun Abbasi.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday described Israel's overnight attacks in Iran as a “dangerous moment,” urging all parties to show restraint.

In a post on X, Lammy wrote: “Stability in the Middle East is vital for global security.”

He said he was “concerned to see reports of strikes overnight,” adding that “further escalation is a serious threat to peace and stability in the region and in no one’s interest.”

Echoing Lammy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer also called for restraint.

"Escalation serves no one in the region," he wrote on X.

"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.”

Officials from both the United States and Iran, alongside Omani mediators, were scheduled to hold a sixth round of negotiations over Tehran's uranium enrichment activities on Sunday in Oman. However, Iran said it will not participate sixth round of nuclear negotiations, following overnight Israeli attacks that killed the country's top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official stated that the planned talks would proceed as scheduled, notwithstanding the Israeli military action.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) declared on Friday that the strikes were prompted by newly acquired intelligence indicating that Iran was "approaching the point of no return" in its development of a nuclear weapon.

However, Reuters cited a source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments who noted that there had been no recent change in the American position. According to the source, U.S. intelligence continues to assess that Iran is not currently building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorised the revival of the nuclear weapons programme, which was halted in 2003.

Speaking to Fox News following the commencement of Israeli air strikes, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his stance that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear bomb. He expressed hope that diplomatic negotiations could still resume.

In a related development, the Jordanian military announced on Friday morning that its aircraft and air defence systems had intercepted multiple missiles and drones that had entered Jordanian airspace. While the statement did not specify the origin of the aerial threats, it followed Iran’s drone launches towards Israeli territory.



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