The world is still digesting news about Israel’s massive attack on several nuclear and military targets in Iran, almost 2,000 kilometres away.
Iran’s Nournews says 78 were killed and 329 injured in Israeli attacks on residential areas in Tehran alone.
Brent oil is up at $75.2 a barrel despite reports that commercial shipping on the Gulf of Hormuz has not been disrupted and major stocks are down as well. The Israeli shekel suffered widespread selling on Friday along with some government bonds and equity markets across the Middle East after Israel launched missile strikes against Iran. Israel’s shekel was down 1.5% against the dollar having tumbled as much as 3.5% at one point. It was also on track for its biggest weekly drop since last July following days of escalating rhetoric.
Many of the targets hit in the Israeli attack are in the capital, Tehran – where reports from several different areas show damage to what appear to be residential buildings. Another key site targeted is in Natanz – about 220km south of the capital – where a uranium enrichment facility is located. Videos from the location show smoke billowing into the sky.
Read also: Hossein Salami, powerful head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, killed in Israeli attack
There are three other areas where it is believed were also targets including in Piranshahr, Kermanshah and Tabriz all in the west of the country. These are reportedly locations of Iranian military facilities.
Latest media reports indicate that Israel has continued carrying out strikes across Iran as part of ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
In the north-western city of Tabriz, Israel has hit a military airbase, according to a news agency affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
A video verified by the BBC also shows black plumes of smoke rising above the base. It is unclear what has caused the column of smoke visible from all over the city.
There are also reports of Israel launching a second wave of strikes on Natanz – Iran’s main site for large-scale uranium enrichment – after it was hit earlier this morning.
Natanz has tens of thousands of centrifuges and is a major contributor towards Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
These new strikes come just hours after Israel assassinated the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with several other leading military figures and nuclear scientists.
This morning, Americans awoke to an early Truth Social post from President Donald Trump in which he seems to justify the attack and warning Iran to come to the table.
In his post, Trump who left room for negotiations with Iran, said Iran should expect more attacks from Israel.
“I think it’s been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. They got hit hard, very hard. 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 by an ABC reporter on X.
The post also seems to warn Iran against any retaliatory actions that could catch the US military in the crossfire, which administration officials – including Rubio – have so far made clear is the American priority for the time being
