Tehran Targeted: Israeli Airstrikes Hit Iran’s Capital and Nuclear Sites
Israeli forces carried out multiple airstrikes on Friday, June 13, targeting Iran’s capital Tehran and surrounding areas, including critical military and nuclear facilities. Residential buildings in Tehran were also reportedly hit during the assault.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, cited by Al Jazeera, two prominent Iranian nuclear scientists—Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi—were killed in the attacks.
Iran’s state television confirmed the deaths, reporting, “Former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, the president of Islamic Azad University in Tehran, were killed in the strikes.” Notably, Abbasi had previously survived an assassination attempt in 2010.
In a significant escalation, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, was also reported to have been killed in the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “These attacks will continue as long as necessary.” Netanyahu confirmed the strikes in a pre-recorded video message.
The assault came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed a commitment to maintaining diplomatic relations with Tehran. Despite this, the situation on the ground escalated rapidly, prompting Iran to suspend operations at Tehran’s international airport.
In response to the strikes, U.S. Secretary of State clarified that the United States was not involved in the operation. However, he issued a strong warning to Iran, cautioning against any retaliation on American military bases in the region.
Iranian media outlets and eyewitness accounts reported several explosions at the Natanz nuclear facility—an area long suspected of being central to Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Iran’s official news agency IRNA declared, “A definitive response will be given to this attack.”
The situation marks one of the most direct escalations in recent years between Israel and Iran, with the potential to significantly destabilize the region.
