Israeli Airstrikes Hit Iranian Nuclear Weapons Sites, Eliminate Iran’s Military Chief and Head of Islamic Guard
The Times of Israel: “Over 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the opening strikes on Iran early this morning.”
In a massive early-morning strike, hundreds of Israeli fighter jets struck several Iranian nuclear weapons facilities and eliminated Iran’s top military brass, including the regime’s military chief and the head of the Islamic Guard (IRGC) terrorist group.
According to Iran’s state-run media, multiple military bases along with the regime’s main nuclear weapons facility in Natanz were hit in the strikes. “Reports in Iran claim six military bases around Tehran, including the complex at Parchin, were attacked,” the Israeli news website YNET reported. “State TV shows smoke rising over Natanz nuclear site.”
The head of IRGC Hossein Salami and several of Iran’s top military commanders were eliminated in the strike. “Iranian state media confirmed on Friday the killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami in an Israeli strike,” Reuters reported.
Iran’s military chief, Mohammad Bagheri, was also reported killed. “An Israeli airstrike killed Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces,” the Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state TV. “Bagheri is a former top commander within Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.”
After repeated threats from the Islamic Republic and confirmation from the IAEA that Iran violated the nuclear deal and lied to the world— continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons while vowing to destroy Israel— tonight, Israel struck at least 15 nuclear sites in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/maGXgsGwA4
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 13, 2025
The IDF disclosed that over 200 fighter jets participated in the aerial operation named the ‘Rising Lion.’
“Over 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the opening strikes on Iran early this morning, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference,” The Times of Israel reported. “He says fighter jets dropped over 330 munitions on some 100 targets in the strikes.”
The Israeli military confirmed the elimination of “Chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Commander of the IRGC and the Commander of Iran’s Emergency Command” in the strike.
“Israel has called its military operation against Iran “Rising Lion”, taking the name from a biblical verse that promises a victorious future for a powerful Israel, ” Reuters noted.
We can now confirm that the Chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Commander of the IRGC and the Commander of Iran’s Emergency Command were all eliminated in the Israeli strikes across Iran by more than 200 fighter jets.
These are three ruthless mass murderers with…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
🔴ELIMINATED: Commander of the IRGC's Air Force & Senior Chain of Command of the Air Force
The Intelligence Directorate identified that the senior chain of command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Air Force had assembled in an underground command center to… pic.twitter.com/9oQHSVieC4
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
The strikes were not limited to taking out these three top commanders, the Israel Hayom newspaper observed:
Reports from Iran indicate a string of eliminations among the upper echelons of the Islamic Republic’s leadership during the Israeli strikes on Iran’s capital, Tehran. (…)
In addition, Iranian sources report that the commander of the “Khatam al-Anbiya” complex in Tehran, Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, was also killed in the strike.
According to these sources, Dr. Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, was also killed in the attacks.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets completed an "extensive blow" against Iran's air defenses in the west of the country, the military says.
As part of the strike, the IDF says dozens of radars and air defense missile launchers were destroyed.
The military says the strikes "improve… pic.twitter.com/batNb5QVrj
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2025
The operation took years of planning. Iranian targets were hit by Israeli drones planted inside its country, news reports reveal.
The Israeli news website YNET reported:
The operation, which officials say was years in the making, combined meticulous planning, extensive intelligence gathering and the covert deployment of advanced capabilities deep inside Iranian territory.
At the heart of the operation was close cooperation between Mossad and the military’s Intelligence Directorate, which prepared detailed intelligence files enabling precision strikes that eliminated key figures in Iran’s security establishment and nuclear program. Alongside these efforts, a parallel covert campaign targeted Iran’s strategic missile arsenal and its air defense systems. The operation, long in development, unfolded along three principal axes.
Footage coming in from #Israel's strikes against #Iran's regime, including in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/Jlq5CLScUl
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) June 13, 2025
Israeli Air F-35I Adir jet and other aircraft preparing for take-off to carry out strikes against Iranian targets. pic.twitter.com/YwoPDlEp8L
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) June 13, 2025
The IDF revealed the details of initial strike in a statement earl morning Friday:
A short while ago, following the directive of the political echelon, the IDF launched a preemptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence to strike Iran’s nuclear program, and in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel. A short while, dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.
Benjamin Netanyahu:
"We eliminated Iran's top commanders, top nuclear scientists, and nuclear sites. We will achieve many successes, thanks to our brave soldiers, with God's help."pic.twitter.com/LlNi5OXbhh
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) June 13, 2025
Israel was following up the initial strike with ‘broad attacks’ on Iranian military targets, The Jerusalem Post reported Friday morning:
Dozens of Israeli aircraft participated in an initial wave of strikes on dozens of military targets and Iranian nuclear sites early on Friday morning.
Warning sirens have been set off to get the public ready for potential Iranian counterattacks of ballistic missiles on Israel.
The IDF had not stopped attacking since the initial wave. Rather, as of 4:30 a.m., the IAF was still carrying out broad attacks, and there were no specific signs of stopping.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Iran is gearing up to produce tens of thousands of ballistic missiles, which could kill millions of Israelis even without nuclear weapons, but imagine if any of them had nuclear weapons on them.
Further, Netanyahu stated Iran may only be a few months away from being able to actually make a nuclear weapon, and not just have enough uranium.
Moments ago, Israel launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.
——
Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: pic.twitter.com/XgUTy90g1S
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 13, 2025
The preemptive strike was conducted as Iranian regime was rapidly advancing its rogue nuclear weapons program, the IDF revealed a statement Friday:
The IDF is revealing for the first time that the Iranian regime is advancing a secret plan for the technological advancement of all parts of the development of a nuclear weapon. In the framework of this plan, senior nuclear scientists in Iran have been working to secretly develop all components needed for developing a nuclear weapon.
In recent months, this program has accelerated significantly, bringing the regime significantly closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is clear evidence that the Iranian regime is operating to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The State of Israel has been left with no choice. The IDF has the obligation to act in defense of the civilians of Israel and will continue to do so.
Tabriz, Iran (airport) pic.twitter.com/gEwB8KXXnj
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) June 13, 2025
Israeli fighter jets also struck regime’s largest Uranium elenrichment site in the Natanz region, the IDF said in separate statement Friday morning:
Overnight, Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate, struck the Iranian regime’s uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area. This is the largest uranium enrichment site in Iran, which has operated for years to achieve nuclear weapons capability and houses the infrastructure required for enriching uranium to military-grade levels.
As part of the strikes, the underground area of the site was damaged. This area contains a multi-story enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms, and additional supporting infrastructure. In addition, critical infrastructure enabling the site’s continuous operation and the Iranian regime’s ongoing efforts to obtain nuclear weapons were targeted.
⭕️ IAF fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence, struck the Iranian regime's uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area overnight. This is the largest uranium enrichment site in Iran, which has operated for years to achieve nuclear weapons capability and houses the… pic.twitter.com/JVLIZFHwLm
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
Iran’s Khamenei vows ‘revenge’
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared that his regime was “planning a severe response” amid reports that Iranian drones were approaching the Israeli airspace.
The NBC News reported:
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed “severe punishment” for an Israeli attack that he called a crime.
“The evil and bloody hand of the Zionist regime committed a crime in our beloved country at dawn today, once again revealing its wicked nature by targeting residential areas. This regime must await severe punishment,” he said in a statement hours after Israeli strikes.
“By [Allah’s] will, the powerful arm of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces will not let it go unpunished,” he said.
“In the enemy’s attacks, a number of commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately continue their duties, [Allah] willing,” he said. “With this crime, the Zionist regime has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself, and it will certainly face it.”
Iran launches drone swarm, IDF confirms
Iran launched a swam of around 100 drones towards Israel following the initial IDF strike, Israeli news reports say Friday morning.
“Over 100 drones were launched by Iran at Israel in the last few hours, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says,” The Times of Israel reported. “He says the IDF is working to shoot them down.”
Israeli air defense systems were intercepting Iranian drones, the military confirmed.
“The Israeli Air Force continues to operate to intercept UAVs launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,” the IDF said in press release Friday noon.
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Comments
Now Trumps order for non essential personnel to leave Iraq makes more sense. It’s long past time for Israel to do something about the terrorist state of Iran who has been funding other terrorists to attack them.
I don’t disagree, but, Iran is a threat to the west, not just a threat to Israel, and, the U.S. properly should have dealt with this threat, decades ago.
The Iranian regime has been at war with the U.S. and the west at-large, since the 1979 Revolution, expressed as innumerable terrorist attacks against U.S. and allied interests, plus, obnoxiously belligerent rhetoric.
If western leadership under European, leftist dhimmis and Dhimmi-crats wasn’t so despicably and indefensibly cowed, emasculated and naive, the Iranian regime would’ve already fairly been on the receiving end of massive reprisals and likely been toppled, decades ago.
Evil and stupid leftists and Dhimmi-crats will predictably blame Israel as an allegedly destabilizing force in the middle east, for possessing the temerity to defend itself and her people against ceaseless, genocidal Islamofascist/Muslim terrorist predations and threats. Smarter people will know better.
innumerable terrorist attacks against U.S. and allied interests, plus, obnoxiously belligerent rhetoric
Don’t forget supplying explosives/mines to groups within Iraq, with which to attack us.
US should have dealt with iran after they seized our embassy, an act of war,
“We have two parties here, and only two. One is the evil party, and the other is the stupid party. Occasionally, the two parties get together to do something that’s both evil and stupid.
That’s called bipartisanship.”
Everett Dirksen
[The Hog-Nosed snake] is perfectly harmless but [if cornered he puffs himself up and] pretends to be a deadly African Puff Adder. Then he wonders why people kill him. – will Cuppy _The Great Bustard_
If you think Iran is harmless, you have been living under a rock since 1979.
Kids, this is why you don’t do drugs.
[You’re] as sharp as a bowling ball. – Foghorn_Leghorn_
The Hebrew name for operation- Am k’lavi – means “A people like a young lioness.” The next word, yakum, means arises, ie a people that arises like a lioness. The source is Bemidbar (Numbers in the KJV) 23:24.
Watch for the difference in approach. Israel attacks military targets…Iran only has the ability to go after population centres.
And watch the difference in how each is covered by the leftist media, who to be honest shares the same objectives as Hamas, Hesbullah and Iran and a shared hatred of Jews worldwide.
I wonder if a concerted campaign of killing off the regime leadership will give the popular reformists the courage to overthrow the mullahs, or if it will create some weird solidarity against the outsider.
Israel appears to have made the decision not to go after the political leadership. It is though going after the military leadership.
Honestly, if I were Israel that’s exactly the approach I’d *pretend* to use… act like only the military and nuke program are targets. Make the regime leadership think they’re not the target… until they suddenly are. Cut the head off all at once.
The pagers are on back-order.
Maybe not political leadership, but they offed one of the assistant mullahs last night, it appears.
Separate “political” leadership from “religious” leadership, and you might get a little revolt going on.
It must be frustrating to be an Imam these days. You go through your day wondering if everyone you meet and everything you touch is somehow the Mossad coming for you. The depth at which Israel has penetrated Iran is absolutely amazing.
Hopefully we’re nearing the end of this evil period brought forth by the odious Jimmy Carter. Islam is a curse upon mankind.
Brought forth by Carter and let stand by several Republican administrations. Obviously, no democrat was going to do anything.
It wasn’t the only evil Carter encouraged to proliferate.
For some reason Iran has sent only drones to attack Israel. I suspect Israel has disabled the launch sites for the missiles.
Apparently, Israel has been able to stop the drone attack. The all clear has been sounded.
They like to send drones as decoys to use up the Israeli ammo stores and overwhelm the defenses. The ballistic missiles come next.
Ok Iranian Patriots, now’s your chance to take back your country. No mercy for the mullahs. Time to show the the F.O. door
See my post below. Israeli took out Iran’s missile launchers by destroying them with teams inside Iran.
Iranian missiles now launched. Some of them anyways. There were probably too many at too many sites to disable.
This ends Obama’s P5+1 Iran nuclear “deal.”
Remember the UN’s British Baroness Catherine Ashton in solo negotiations with Iran’s FM Zarif? The “no-paper” deal. All cloak and dagger stuff.
John Kerry selling it to GOP uniparty muppets. Oh, chairman Chuck Grassley objected in sternly worded fashion. And we know how that goes.
Grassley is the Designated Scold of Grand Fenwick’s Loyal Opposition.
Trump did not want these attacks to take place.
USA needs to prevent USA paid resources being used against USA’s wishes.
USA needs to micromanage any USA aid provided to Israel.
There is zero chance this campaign was launched without Trump’s explicit approval and coordination with US intelligence and DoD. I would be surprised if The Kingdom wasn’t given ample advance warning as well. Just two days ago, Mohammed bin Salman gave an unusual interview where he called Iran a threat ‘to the world’ and compared the Ayatollah to ‘Hitler.’ That wasn’t a coincidence.
Yeah? And how do you know that? Do you have a direct line to the White House? Trump warned Iran that an attack could come. It puts the US into a better place for negotiation. Iran knows that Israel can (and will) use force to stop their development of nukes. Trump negotiates with a carrot and stick approach, and Iran just got hit with the stick. If they don’t hammer out a real deal they’ll get hit with a much larger second stick. Iran knows we could do that to them too, and harder.
And no, we’re not going to “micromanage” Israel .
You’re a dhimmi idiot, appeaser and moral reprobate. This reprisal was coordinated with #47, after the Iranian regime rejected his peace overtures.
The State Department was withdrawing personnel from the region, all week prior.
And, at any rate, as a basic principle Israel doesn’t need the U.S.’s permission to defend itself and her people from Iran’s genocidal Islamofascism/Muslim terrorism.
No, Trump probably didn’t want these attacks to take place. He would have much preferred Iran take the deal he was offering. But he also knows they were necessary.
Why would you think any resources were used against our foreign policy wishes? Or are you simply projecting your wishes onto the US gov’t? Also, if we helped the Israeli gov’t buy US-produced weapons, why wouldn’t we want them to be used? That seems… dumb.
The US absolutely needs to NOT micromanage anything we do with Israel. They are a sovereign nation and should be treated as such. (Especially since they act like dadgum adults, compared to so many of our “allies.”)
The “aid” Israel gets from the US is paid for by Israel, making it not “aid” at all. Leave it to the MSM to make it appear that Israel is a leech.
For some time, it’s been rumored IDF was developing/has developed some kind of massive air ordnance, not unlike our our ground-penetrating MOAB. Their biggest shortcoming is the lack of tactical aircraft to deliver it; IDF has no heavy bombers. Their only option would be to use a cargo plane, like the C-130 to deliver it like it would a LAPES pallet. We have our own experience doing this with so-called ‘daisy-cutters’ in Vietnam and the 1st Gulf War. Of course, the limitation is it would be insane, a suicide mission to fly a C-130 into a target zone where you didn’t at least enjoy air dominance. After listening to Netanyahu, it seems clear to me that is in fact their plan. They’re going to continue to pound Iran until they can deliver larger ordnance with cargo planes…and it appears there’s not much Iran can do to stop it because their combined air defenses seem to be…non-functional.
Yeah, I heard last night that there had been air-t0-air combat, and Iran came out of it with far fewer planes… and pilots. Haven’t seen an update this morning, though I’d imagine that the Iranian air force now consists of a few crop dusters and a traffic report helicopter.
And the helicopter is grounded because they’re afraid they might “accidentally” fly into a tall building.
It seems part of Mossad’s job during this was smuggling “explosive drones” into Iran, then launching them against the air defense system before the IAF arrived.
Nice work, y’all.
FWIW, this caught my attention, video of two low-flying IDF C-130s over Syria headed back to Israel. C-130s carry people or small vehicles or palatized cargo….like palatized munitions.
https://x.com/AviMayer/status/1933520504175956104
They may have been carrying back the teams that had been operating inside Iran.
Very well could be…or could be both. There is some other reporting that there has been other cargo planes spotted headed back from the direction of Iran at low altitude.
As a former C-130 pilot, the aircraft could be used to drop munitions. The 15,000 lb BLU-82 was a device that C-130s dropped in Vietnam and, I believe, in Iraq 2003. They also envision the C-130 releasing palatized cruise missiles. As to accuracy, C-130s dropped CDS (Container Delivery System) loads on soccer fields in Cambodia.
Those pictures of C-130Js showed they had the external fuel tanks. With those, the aircraft would have more than sufficient combat radius range to go to Iran and return.
I hope that oil refineries, pipelines and related infrastructure are on the target list. Economic starvation and sabotage are necessary to effect regime change in Iran. Otherwise, the regime will simply regroup and rebuild.
Israel could devastate Iran’s oil infrastructure just by wrecking Kharg Island, but there’s a good chance they won’t. Iran produces something like 3% or 4% of the world’s oil, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is. Cut it off and oil prices go up worldwide, which means gas prices go up worldwide, and everybody blames Israel for it. They’re already the target of a lot of animosity, they don’t need more people hating them.
Trump should issue an executive order, stating that the success of Rising Lion has him declaring that Friday the 13th is no longer to be considered “unlucky”.
That would be classic Trump!
Another excellent operation by IDF, IAF, and Mossad.
I will set this here as a tribute.
Just in
Tucker Carlson has been spotted in all black mourning garb crying hysterically and vowing revenge for his best friends deaths.
No word on if Candace intends to speak at her closest friends funerals or if she intends on respecting Islamic Law.
In 2024, Israel took out Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh inside Iran.
From a Google search:
The New York Times, based on information provided by several Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians and an American official, reported that Haniyeh was assassinated by a remotely detonated explosive device hidden in his room. Axios reported that the bomb was detonated by Mossad agents on Iranian soil.
At the time, I called BS. I had a strong suspicion that Mossad lied about how Haniyeh was killed to conceal the presence inside Iran of Israeli operatives armed with guided ground-to-ground munitions.
Guess who had teams with guided, ground-to-ground munitions (along with drones and UAVs) on the ground inside Iran during yesterday’s attack?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/mossad-set-up-drone-base-in-iran-uavs-took-out-missile-launchers-overnight/
Coincidence?
At this moment, a new wave of powerful explosions seem to be hitting Tehran and Isfahan and perhaps other locations inside of Iran. I’m not sure what wave this would be. They may be up to or even past a half-dozen waves of sorties. It’s their own version of Shock & Awe, but apparently way more effective.
The first strikes were aimed at command and control (both personnel and facilities), air defenses, and soft nuclear targets (scientists, research centers, above-ground/relatively unhardened facilities). Follow up attacks are likely going for the more difficult targets and keeping air defenses suppressed.
No to take out all the Mullahs