Israel and Iran exchanged missile fire Friday night, multiple media have reported, and leaders in both countries have indicated the conflict will continue.
After Israel struck about 100 sites in Iran Thursday, Iran sent about 100 missiles at sites in Israel, with some hitting locations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated Friday that Israel’s “acts of aggression against Iran could not have been carried out without the coordination and approval of the United States,” and that “the US government, as the primary patron of this regime, will also bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist regime’s reckless actions.”
US defense officials have anonymously told American news media that the US has assisted Israel in shooting down ballistic missiles that Iran has launched at it following Israel’s strikes, which killed Iranian military leaders, Stars and Stripes reported. The US Navy’s USS Thomas Hunder, which helps defend against ballistic missiles, is set to approach the eastern Mediterranean, and a second destroyer is supposed to be available if the White House asks it to be.
A US defense official said about 40,000 American troops are in the Middle East, AP News reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a June 12 statement from the White House that the US is not involved in Israel’s strikes against Iran and its foremost priority is protecting American military members in the region.
“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” Rubio said. “President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the people of Iran in a video at about 10:15 p.m. local time June 13, specifying that his country’s military operation, “Operation Rising Lion,” is against the Iranian regime, not Iranian civilians.
“The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for almost 50 years threatens to destroy our country, the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “The objective of Israel’s operation is to thwart the Islamic regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile threat to us. As we achieve our objective we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom.”
Netanyahu said that Israel has “taken out military op military commanders, senior nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime’s most significant enrichment facility and a large portion of its ballistic missile arsenal. More is on the way.”
He said that the regime “has never been weaker” and told the Iranian people that “this is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.”
Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said in a X post made at about 10:45 p.m. Israel Daylight Time (IDT), “The Zionist regime will not escape safely from the heinous crime they’ve committed.”
Imam Khamenei said “our beloved commanders, scientists, and a number of civilians” were martyred.
The Washington Post reported that Israel has killed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, commander of Iran’s military; Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the country’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); and Mohammad Mehdi Teranchi, Islamic Azad University’s president and a physicist, among others.
Israel was also conducting ground operations, the article said.
The Post story explained: “By daybreak, members of the inner circle of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and key figures in the country’s nuclear brain trust were dead, in some cases apparent casualties of explosives-packed drones or other devices that blew holes in the sides of apartment high-rises and other structures in central Tehran, according to Israeli and Western security officials as well as regime statements on known casualties.”
BBC reported that Israel’s strikes also killed military leaders Gholamali Rashid, who was in charge of the IRGC’s Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters; Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who led IRGC’s Aerospace Force; and Fereydoon Abbasi, a nuclear scientist who had said on Iranian TV that he would be willing to build a nuclear weapon. Abdulhamid Minouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, and Amirhossein Feqhi, who were involved with nuclear engineering at Iran’s Shahid Beheshti University, were also killed.
President Donald Trump said at about 12:15 p.m. Friday IDT (6 a.m. Eastern Time) in a Truth Social post that he had given Iran “chance after chance to make a deal” on its nuclear program.
“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump said in the post. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is part of the United Nations, reported that Israel destroyed Iran’s Natanz Nuclear Facility’s above-ground fuel enrichment plant, which was producing uranium.
“Radiation levels outside the Natanz facility remained unchanged,” the agency said in a post on X. “The type of radioactive contamination present inside the facility, mainly alpha particles, can be managed with appropriate protective measures.”
Editor’s note, Iran’s time zone is GMT+3:30 and Israel’s is GMT+3. We decided to use Israel’s time zone because there is a whole number difference between time zones in Israel and time zones in the US, making it easier to convert time zones for when these events took place.