Iran says Israel attack ‘declaration of war’
Iran said Israel’s strikes on its military and nuclear facilities on Friday were a “declaration of war” and called on the UN Security Council to act.
In a letter to the United Nations, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as a “declaration of war” and “called on the Security Council to immediately address this issue”, the ministry said, AFP reports.
Key events
Trump urges Iran to make nuclear deal with next planned attacks ‘even more brutal’
US president Donald Trump has urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, saying that there was still time for the country to prevent further conflict with Israel:
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.
I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.
Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!
There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.
Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!
Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House thinktank has provided some analysis of Israel’s strikes on Iran:
The Israeli government has launched a highly provocative and strategically timed strike against Iran, aiming to achieve three primary objectives: to eliminate senior commanders and disrupt Iran’s operational leadership, to inflict damage on its nuclear program, and to weaken its defensive capabilities.
Beyond these immediate military goals, it is apparent that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also seeks to sabotage any remaining diplomatic pathways toward a revived nuclear agreement and perhaps to incite internal unrest within Iran. The prime minister also has his domestic motivations. Far from being a preventive action, this strike risks triggering a broader regional escalation and may inadvertently bolster the Islamic Republic’s domestic and international legitimacy.
Once again, Iran has been exposed, and its response options are constrained by its desire to avoid a full-scale war. Nonetheless, the regime must retaliate to reassert deterrence and prevent further strikes. Iran has already launched a limited military response and cancelled the scheduled diplomatic talks with the Trump administration that were to be held on Sunday in Muscat.
Given the unprecedented scale and nature of the Israeli attack including strikes across Iranian territory and the targeting of civilians and senior officials, Tehran is likely to take further retaliatory steps. These may include accelerating its nuclear program, suspending all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and potentially withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
A fresh round of explosions was heard in northwestern Iran, state television reported, after Israel carried out a wave of strikes on multiple cities.
“A few minutes ago, new explosions were heard in East Azerbaijan (province in Iran),” the broadcaster said, as the Tasnim news agency said an earlier wave of strikes had hit 10 sites in the province, killing at least three people.
At the same time Israeli media is reporting Israel has launched fresh strikes on Tabriz military airport, located in East Azerbaijan province.
The Russian foreign ministry has said that Israeli strikes on Iran and its nuclear facilities were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter.
“Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, peaceful cities, and nuclear energy infrastructure are categorically unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement, without referencing its own ongoing invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine.
Iran says Israel attack ‘declaration of war’
Iran said Israel’s strikes on its military and nuclear facilities on Friday were a “declaration of war” and called on the UN Security Council to act.
In a letter to the United Nations, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as a “declaration of war” and “called on the Security Council to immediately address this issue”, the ministry said, AFP reports.
A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was wounded during Israel’s attack, Iran’s state media reported.
“Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to the supreme leader… was injured in today’s attack by the Zionist regime,” according to state TV, AFP reports.
Most of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards air force leadership were eliminated during Israel’s strikes on Iran – they were convening at an underground headquarters, the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said, Reuters reports.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian has posted a statement on X (translated below via Google so accuracy may not be 100%). He is due to deliver a speech at some point today on the strikes and Iran’s response.
“As soon as the Zionist regime’s criminal attack occurred, the president and the government team have taken over the management of the scene, and a special meeting of the government board has been held in this regard; Masoud Pezeshkian will soon speak to the people. God willing, the Zionist regime will regret its action today.”
Iranians reacted to Israeli strikes with anger and fear, Reuters reports, with some urging retaliation and others worried the conflict would spell more hardship for a nation worn down by crises.
“I woke up to deafening explosion. People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic, we were all terrified,” said Marziyeh, 39, from the city of Natanz, which is home to one of Iran’s nuclear sites and where explosions were reported. “I am deeply worried about my children’s safety if this situation escalates,” she said.
Masoud Mousavi, 51, a retired bank employee said he waited for the exchange offices to open, “so I can buy Turkish Lira and take my family there by land since airspace is closed”.
“I am against any war. Any strike that kills innocent people. I will stay in Turkey with my family until this situation is over,” he said from Shiraz.
Two money changers in Tehran said they were busier than usual, as people rushed to buy foreign currency following the attack. But one of them said people were not too panicked.
“We have been through so much already. I don’t support Israel’s attack and I understand that Iran’s leaders feel the need to retaliate,” said retired teacher Fariba Besharati, 64, who lives with her children and two grandchildren in Tabriz. “But what about us? Haven’t we endured enough suffering?”
Ali, whose father was killed during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, said he was ready to sacrifice his life for the Islamic Republic. “I am a member of (volunteer militia) Basij. I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear programme. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks,” he said from the holy city of Qom by phone.
All Israeli pilots involved in the strikes on Iran have returned safely home, an Israeli military official said, Reuters reports.
The official, speaking to a group of foreign reporters on condition of anonymity, said the air force had launched simultaneous strikes on multiple targets, including Iranian ballistic missiles that were pointed towards Israel.
“We have already achieved a lot,” he said.
Israel was prepared for the confrontation to continue over several days, depending in part on how Iran responded, he said, adding that Iran had already launched more than 100 drones towards Israel, many of which had already been intercepted.
Mossad smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of strikes – security officials
Israeli security officials say the country’s Mossad spy agency smuggled weapons into Iran ahead o strikes that were used to target its defences from within, AP reports, citing two security sources.
The two security officials spoke on condition of anonymity. The news wire could not independently confirm their claims and there was no official comment.
The officials said a base for launching explosive drones was established inside Iran and that the drones were activated during the attack to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran.
They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran and positioned them near surface-to-air missile systems. They said it also deployed strike systems on vehicles. Both were activated as the strikes began, in order to target Iran’s defences, the officials said.
Israel ends alert for citizens
Israel has announced that citizens are no longer required to stay near protected spaces nationwide, a precaution it imposed in anticipation of an Iranian response to Israel’s strikes on Iran.
“End of the need to stay near protected space,” the military’s home front command said in a new guideline issued to citizens. Earlier on Friday it had ordered Israelis to seek refuge in shelters as the military launched a widespread attack on Iran.
Iran confirms damage at Natanz nuclear site, says extent unknown
Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz was damaged in an Israeli attack on Friday, the country’s atomic energy organisation said in a statement, but investigations have not shown any radioactive or chemical contamination outside the site.
“The attack has damaged several parts of the facility. Investigations are ongoing to assess the extent of damages,” the statement said.
IAEA chief says he is ready to travel to Iran to assess situation
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Friday he was ready to travel to Iran to assess the situation there after Israel carried out widespread military strikes that hit the sprawling nuclear complex at Natanz.
In a statement to a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors, Grossi said the other main enrichment centre in Iran, Fordow, was not hit and neither was another nuclear facility in Esfahan, citing Iranian authorities. There are no elevated radiation levels at Natanz, he added.
According to Reuters, Grossi said in his statement:
I have indicated to the respective authorities my readiness to travel at the earliest to assess the situation and ensure safety, security and non-proliferation in Iran.
He did not say what the extent of the damage at Natanz was or what parts of the site were hit. The site includes a vast underground uranium enrichment plant and a smaller, above-ground pilot enrichment plant.
Iran is enriching to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, at the pilot plant, but it is producing smaller quantities of that material there than at Fordow, a site dug into a mountain that military experts have said would be difficult for Israel to destroy through bombardment.
“Despite the current military actions and heightened tensions, it is clear that the only sustainable path forward – for Iran, for Israel, the entire region, and the international community – is one grounded in dialogue and diplomacy to ensure peace, stability, and cooperation,” Grossi said.
Emirates, the Middle East’s largest airline, said it had cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran after Israel launched the strikes.
Several flights scheduled for Friday and one Tehran flight on Saturday were listed as cancelled on the airline’s website, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) airports have warned of disruption, with Dubai posting on X that “some flights at @DXB and DWC – Al Maktoum international have been cancelled or delayed due to airspace closures over Iran, Iraq, and Syria”.
Abu Dhabi airport warned “flight disruptions are expected through today [Friday]“ as a result of the Israeli strikes.
Earlier on Friday, Jordan and Iraq, which lie between Israel and Iran, announced they had closed their airspace and grounded all flights after Israel’s strikes.
IAEA chief urges all parties to show restraint after Israeli attacks on Iran and says nuclear facilities ‘must never be attacked’
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi on Friday called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation in response to Israeli attacks on Iran overnight. Grossi also said on Friday that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked”.
“This development is deeply concerning … I reiterate that any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond,” Grossi said in a statement to board members, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Earlier, Iran sharply criticised the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing it of “silence” over Israel’s strikes on its nuclear facilities and scientists.
In a statement, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said it considered the “silence” from the IAEA “as a form of cooperation with the Zionist regime,” adding that the Israeli attack was a “defeat for the IAEA resulting from its unjustifiable shortcomings”.
France’s foreign minister on Friday urged restraint after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites as well as killing the armed forces’ chief of staff.
“We call on all sides to exercise restraint and avoid any escalation that could undermine regional stability,” Jean-Noël Barrot said on X.
Iran has gradually broken away from its commitments under the nuclear deal it struck with world powers including the United States and France in 2015.
The landmark deal provided Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme, but it fell apart after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States during US president Donald Trump’s first term in 2018.
Turkey urges Israel to halt ‘aggressive actions’ after Iran strikes
Turkey on Friday urged Israel to stop “aggressive actions” after a wave of strikes on Iran that comes at a time of negotiations over the Islamic republic’s disputed nuclear programme.
“Israel must put an immediate end to its aggressive actions that could lead to further conflicts,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Sam Jones
Spain’s leftwing deputy prime minister Yolanda Díaz, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, has called for an “urgent de-escalation” after the Israeli strikes on Iran.
“From the genocide in Gaza to the bombing of Iran: Netanyahu is dragging the world towards an escalation of war,” she wrote on Bluesky on Friday morning.
Díaz added:
We call for an urgent de-escalation, for the respect for international law, for immediate sanctions against the Israeli regime and for a multilateral route toward a just and lasting peace for all people.
