CNN
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Shortly before sunrise in Iran on Friday, Israel began its first strike of operations against its regime’s nuclear program.
The operation, dubbed the “Lion Lion,” had two prongs: a heavy airstrike on at least one of Iran’s enrichment sites and a strike that was more targeted in Tehran to decapitate the military leaders of the regime. It aimed to stop Israel saying it was Tehran’s rapid progress in the development of nuclear weapons.
The Israeli attack came after years of threats and days of speculation, but no US blessings. The Trump administration emphasized that Israel was acting unilaterally and that Washington was “not involved.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation would continue “the required days” to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat. Tehran, who argued that the nuclear program is peace, said “there is no choice but to respond.”
This is what you need to know.
When and where did Israel attack?
The first explosion tore Tehran at 3:30am on Friday (8pm on Thursday). A video georoded by CNN shows flames and smoke swirling from buildings around the city.
The Tehran residents were blind. Many people didn’t expect Israel to attack that quickly. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was really scary,” the 17-year-old Iranian told CNN, demanding anonymity due to safety concerns.
Shortly after the explosion shook Tehran, Israel also attacked elsewhere in the country. Israeli forces said they would use jets to attack “dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in various regions of Iran.”
An explosion has been reported at Iran’s major enrichment facility in Natanz, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Tehran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, confirmed that Natantz had been attacked, but said it had not observed an increase in radiation levels in the region.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi said other nuclear facilities in Iran, Isfahan, Buscher and Fordau, were not affected. The Fordow site is buried beneath the mountain and is considered a much more difficult target for Israel.
In a televised speech, Netanyahu said Israel took action to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival,” and that it would continue to operate as long as it would “to remove these threats.”
Netanyahu claimed that Iran had produced well-enriched uranium for nine nuclear weapons in recent years.
“Iran could produce nuclear weapons in a very short time. It could be a year, it could be within months,” he said. “This is a clear and current danger to Israel’s survival.”
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) also said it had destroyed Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.
Some of the most important men in Iranian military and its nuclear program were killed in the Israeli strike.
Major General Hossein Salami, head of the Secret Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), was the best property of those killed.
Israel also said it had killed Major General Mohammad Bagheli, the chief of staff of the Iranian army. Ali Shamhani, close aide to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Air Force of the IRGC.
Iran’s retaliation has already begun. The IDF said Tehran has fired more than 100 drones at Israel, and Israeli defenses are working to intercept the drones.
Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian urged the Iranian people to remain united and trust Iranian leadership.
“The country needs unity… more than ever,” he added.
It is not clear how Tehran will attempt accurate retaliation after a series of deadly and embarrassing Israeli blows against the Iranian regime.
Following previous Israeli attacks on proxies in Iran and the region, Tehran fought back with a massive salvos of ballistic missiles.
The War Institute, a think tank in Washington, DC, said this time, “It is possible that Israel has somehow confused Iran’s response by targeting Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.”
The Trump administration has been pursuing a diplomatic path with Iran in recent weeks, but has tried to distance itself from Israel’s attacks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel’s actions were “unilateral.” Israel notified the US ahead of the strike, but Rubio said the US was “not involved” in the attack.
“Our top priority is protecting the US troops in the area,” he added. Earlier this week, the US made efforts to arrange for the resignation of non-essential staff from various countries in the Middle East, leading to speculation that Israeli attacks on Iran could be imminent.
US President Donald Trump has urged Iran to agree to a new nuclear deal “before there’s nothing left,” suggesting that Israel’s attacks are “even more cruel.”
Trump said he gave Iran a “post-chance chance.” “Do that before it’s too late,” he writes about Truth Social, a social media platform.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, which was hit by former US President Barack Obama, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has agreed to trade for priesthood salvation to dramatically limit uranium enrichment in centrifuges and caps to levels well below the level required to build weapons.
However, during his first term as president in 2018, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, saying the “rotten structure” of the deal was not enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear bombs. He threatened to tighten sanctions against Iran and sanction the countries that helped the regime acquire nuclear weapons.
In his second semester, Trump revived efforts to launch a new nuclear deal with Iran. Hours before the Israeli strike, the president warned Israel against launching an attack while US consultations are underway.
“As long as I think there’s an agreement, it blows it away, so they don’t want them to come in. They might actually help it, but they might blow it,” Trump said.