Israel's Strikes Kill at Least 20 Senior Iranian Commanders, Sources Say
Christina Anagnostopoulos, Farouq Suleiman, Kylie Maclellan, Ju-min Park, Ros Russell and Alexandra Hudson Reuters
People look at a damaged building in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. (photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA)
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It said it had attacked nuclear facilities and killed a number of military commanders including Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami and armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri.
Washington said it had no part in the attack, but U.S. President Donald Trump said he knew about it and suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting a U.S. ultimatum in talks to restrict its nuclear program.
"They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more," Trump was quoted as saying on Friday in an interview with ABC News.
Iran promised a harsh response to the overnight onslaught. Israel said about 100 drones had been launched towards Israeli territory in retaliation, although an Iranian source denied this.
Iran's Nournews said 78 people had been killed and 329 injured in Israeli attacks on residential areas in Tehran.
Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz suffered significant damage, an Israeli military spokesman said. Iranian state media said six nuclear scientists were killed.
The price of crude leapt by almost 7% on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across a major oil-producing region. Stock markets fell and gold prices rallied.
Airlines cancelled flights and quit the airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan after the Israeli strikes.
