Main targets in strikes include residences of some high-ranking commanders of Iranian Army, Revolutionary Guard Corps, plus Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, local media reports
ISTANBUL — In its strikes on Iran early Friday, Israel hit both strategic and military targets and reportedly killed key commanders and scientists.
The main targets in the strikes include the residences of some high-ranking commanders of the Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, which is Iran’s key enrichment facility, Iranian media reported.
The attacks also targeted the residences of some high-ranking scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program.
Radar, air defence systems targeted
The Subashi radar site, one of Iran’s most important radar centers in the country, in the country’s western Hamedan province, plus military and radar centres in the Kermanshah province and military facilities in the Lorestan province are among the sites targeted by the strikes.
In Tabriz, the Seydava Military Barracks, radar systems around the city, and other strategic points were also targeted.
In the southwestern Khuzestan Province, some important centres in the oil-rich region, including the border gate to Iraq, were targeted.
The Israeli strikes began around 3 a.m. local time (2330GMT) and targeted both military and nuclear facilities, as well as residential areas, said Iranian media.
Iranian state TV said residential areas in Tehran were hit and civilians were among those killed – including children – though this could not be independently verified
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Gen. Hossein Salami, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and senior IRGC commander Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, head of the central headquarters of the Iranian military, were all killed in the strikes.
The attacks also claimed the lives of prominent Iranian nuclear scientists, including Fereydoon Abbasi, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and Abdolhamid Minoucher.
Abbasi, a former lawmaker, previously survived a 2010 assassination attempt.
Meanwhule, Iran has accused the US of supporting Israel’s attack, which US strongly denies. President Trump said he was aware of the strikes beforehand but emphasised the US played no part.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel “should anticipate a severe punishment” following overnight strikes which targeted nuclear sites and killed several military commanders.
He says Israel has “committed a crime in our dear country today” and his military forces “won’t let them go unpunished”.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see.”
Iran has since launched about 100 drones towards Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). — Agencies
