On the early morning of June 13, Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program and military sites.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, “The US is not involved in these strikes. Israel informed us that this action was necessary for its self-defense.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency in a video message. He said the operation, called ‘Rising Lion,’ will continue “for as many days as it takes to remove Iran’s threat to Israel’s survival.”
Iranian media reported that top military leaders, including General Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards, and General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, were killed in the attacks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader warned Israel, saying, “That [Zionist] regime should anticipate a severe punishment. By God’s grace, the powerful arm of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces won’t let them go unpunished.”
Among those killed in the strikes were nuclear scientists Abdolrahim Minouchehr, former nuclear chief Fereydoun Abbasi, Mehdi Tehranchi, and Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University’s Nuclear Engineering Faculty.
Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s attacks, stating, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security and constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms.”
