Iran launches ballistic missiles at Israel in response to attacks

Hundreds of ballistic missiles have been launched in retaliation for Israel’s biggest ever attacks on Iran.

Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded on Friday night across Israel following what the country’s military spokesman said was the firing of missiles from Iran.

Israel had blasted Iran’s huge underground nuclear site at Natanz and wiped out its top military commanders.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries from the strikes in Israel.

Israel said the strikes were the start of “Operation Rising Lion”. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Israel of having started the strikes and initiating a war.

United States President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.

As evening fell on Friday, Iranian media reported explosions on the northern and southern outskirts of Tehran and at Fordow, near the holy city of Qom, a second nuclear site which had been spared in the first wave of attacks.

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Air defences were activated across Tehran, and explosions could be heard in Isfahan.

Israel’s military said it was striking Iranian missile and drone launching sites, and had struck another nuclear site in Isfahan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli campaign was aimed at defeating an existential threat from Iran, invoking the failure to halt the Holocaust in World War Two.

Israel’s operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat. Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future,” he said in a TV address.

In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump said it was not clear if Iran’s nuclear programme had survived.

He said nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, scheduled for Sunday, were still on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place.

Trump said: “We knew everything.

“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.

“They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late.”

Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”

Israel’s 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.

The Star