Israel Attacks Iran Nuke, Missile Sites06/13 06:27

   Israel attacked Iran early Friday in strikes that took out top military 
officers and hit nuclear and missile sites, raising the potential for an 
all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be 
the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Israel attacked Iran early Friday in 
strikes that took out top military officers and hit nuclear and missile sites, 
raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East 
adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since 
its 1980s war with Iraq.

   Simmering tensions over Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program boiled over 
and Iran quickly retaliated, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme 
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of "severe punishment."

   Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the 
globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides.

   Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial 
attack on about 100 targets. Two security officials said the country's Mossad 
spy agency was also able to position explosive drones inside Iran ahead of time 
and then activate them to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near 
Tehran.

   They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran as 
well as strike systems on vehicles, which were activated as the attack began to 
hit Iranian air defenses.

   The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the highly 
secretive missions and it was not possible to independently confirm their 
claims. There was no official comment.

   The Israeli attack hit several sites, including Iran's main nuclear 
enrichment facility at Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the 
air. Later in the morning, Israel said it had also destroyed dozens of radar 
installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran.

   Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders, one who 
oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, one who led the 
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, and another who ran the 
Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

   Iran confirmed all three deaths, which were a significant blow to Tehran's 
governing theocracy and will complicate efforts to retaliate against Israel.

   Khamenei said other top military officials and scientists were also killed.

   In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel, with both 
Iraq and Jordan confirming they had flown over their airspace. Israel said the 
drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately 
clear whether any got through.

   In his first public comment about the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump 
again urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program, 
warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks "will only get 
worse."

   Without saying whether he was privy to specific Israeli plans, Trump said 
"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," he wrote. "No more death, no more destruction, 
JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."

   Washington had cautioned Israel against an attack during continued 
negotiations over Iran's nuclear enrichment program. It stressed the U.S. had 
not been involved and warned against any retaliation targeting U.S. interests 
or personnel.

   It seemed likely the U.S. suspected an attack could be in the offing, 
however, with Washington on Wednesday pulling some American diplomats from 
Iraq's capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of U.S. 
troops in the wider Middle East.

   Israel calls attacks preemptive strikes on Iran's nuclear program

   Israeli leaders cast attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that 
Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country 
is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran 
maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

   "It could be a year. It could be within a few months," Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as 
necessary to "remove this threat."

   "This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival," he said.

   Over the past year, Israel has been targeting Iran's air defenses, hitting a 
radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery in April 2024 and 
surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October.

   Nervous Israelis rushed to supermarkets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere 
to buy bottled water and other supplies, and circulated messages on WhatsApp 
groups advising each other to prepare their shelters for potential long-term 
use.

   In Iran, meanwhile, museums were shut down and began transferring valuable 
items to secure vaults to protect them, the state-affiliated Borna news agency 
reported.

   Iran claims Israel targeted residential areas

   Israel "opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved 
country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential 
centers," Khamenei said in a statement.

   For Netanyahu, the operation distracts attention from Israel's ongoing and 
increasingly devastating war in Gaza, which is now over 20 months old.

   There is a broad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is a major 
threat, and Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, a staunch critic of 
Netanyahu, offered his "full support" for the mission against Iran. But if 
Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily 
life, public opinion could shift quickly.

   The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah issued a statement that 
offered condolences and condemned the attack, but did not threaten to join Iran 
in its retaliation. Hezbollah's latest war with Israel -- which killed much of 
the group's senior leadership -- ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in 
November.

   Netanyahu expressed hope the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran's 
theocracy, saying his message to the Iranian people was that the fight was not 
with them, but with the "brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 
years."

   "I believe that the day of your liberation is near," he said.

   Multiple sites in the Iranian capital were hit in the attack, which 
Netanyahu said targeted both nuclear and military sites. Also targeted were 
officials leading Iran's nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal. The 
International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that an Israeli strike hit Iran's 
uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and said it was closely monitoring 
radiation levels.

   The strike on Iran pushed the Israeli military to its limits, requiring the 
use of aging air-to-air refuelers to get its fighter jets close enough to 
attack. It wasn't immediately clear if Israeli jets entered Iranian airspace or 
just fired so-called "standoff missiles" over another country. People in Iraq 
heard fighter jets overhead at the time of the attack. Israel previously 
attacked Iran from over the border in Iraq.

   Tension had been growing for weeks ahead of attacks

   The potential for an attack had been apparent for weeks as angst built over 
Iran's nuclear program.

   Once the attacks were underway, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued an 
alert telling American government workers and their families to shelter in 
place until further notice.

   U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took "unilateral action 
against Iran" and that Israel advised the U.S. that it believed the strikes 
were necessary for its self-defense.

   "We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is 
protecting American forces in the region," Rubio said in a statement released 
by the White House.

   Trump is scheduled to attend a meeting of his National Security Council on 
Friday in the White House Situation Room, where he is expected to discuss the 
conflict with top advisers.

   Israel has long been determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear 
weapons, a concern laid bare on Thursday when the Board of Governors at the 
International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years censured Iran 
over its refusal to work with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it 
would establish a third enrichment site and install more advanced centrifuges.

   Even so, there are multiple assessments on how many nuclear weapons Iran 
could conceivably build, should it choose to do so. Iran would need months to 
assemble, test and field any weapon, which it so far has said it has no desire 
to do. U.S. intelligence agencies also assess Iran does not have a weapons 
program at this time.

   In a sign of the far-reaching implications of the emerging conflict, 
Israel's main airport was closed and benchmark Brent crude spiked on news of 
the attack, rising nearly 8% before retreating slightly.