Israel’s operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV address yesterday.
“Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future.”
Netanyahu, who for decades has raised the alarm about Iran’s nuclear programme, said he authorised the assault to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Israel and its Western allies have said this is Tehran’s objective but Iran denies it.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council yesterday that the above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz has been destroyed. He said the UN was still gathering information about Israeli attacks on two other facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and at Isfahan.
Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians.
He accused the US of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences.
Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs.
The price of crude leaped on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across the oil-producing region, although there were no reports that oil production or storage was damaged. Opec said the escalation did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply.
In a phone interview with Reuters, US President Donald Trump said nuclear talks between Tehran and the United States, scheduled for tomorrow, were still on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place.
“We knew everything,” Trump said of the Israeli attack plans.
“I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out,” Trump said. “They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late.”
Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said military action by itself would not destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, but could “create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States” to get rid of it.
Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a stunning decapitation reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon’s once-feared Hizbollah militia last year. Iran also said six of its top nuclear scientists had been killed.
Among the generals killed yesterday were the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, promoted to replace Salami as Guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the Supreme Leader read on state television: “The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime.”
An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack, and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran’s strategic missile array.
Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had bombarded Iran’s air defences, destroying “dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers”.
Iranians described an atmosphere of fear and anger, with some people hurrying to change money and others seeking a way out of the country to safety.
“People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic. We were all terrified,” said Marziyeh, 39, who was awakened by a blast in Natanz.
While some Iranians quietly hoped the attack would lead to changes in Iran’s hardline clerical leadership, others vowed to rally behind the authorities.
“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,” said Ali, a member of the pro-government Basij militia in Qom.
Israel said a missile fired from Yemen – whose Houthi militia are Iran-aligned – had landed in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent said three Palestinian children were wounded by shrapnel there.
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