Israel launched dozens of strikes on Iran Thursday, targeting its nuclear program. Israeli officials said that the strikes would continue for days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israeli warplanes “are attacking a large number of targets across Iran.” He added that the goal of the attack is “to strike Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Iran’s ballistic missile factories, and Iran’s military capabilities.”
“This operation will continue as long as necessary, until we complete the mission,” Netanyahu said.
Iranian state television announced that IRGC Chief-of-Staff Hossein Salami was assassinated in an Israeli strike in Tehran. Dozens of casualties were reported.
The move followed a discussion between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu on Monday, during which Netanyahu discussed possible plans to attack Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The US and Israel have been planning for decades to carry out an attack on Iran’s nuclear refinement facilities, a move that was widely seen as triggering a full-scale regional war. Over the past year and a half, the US has surged aircraft, missile defense systems and warships into the Middle East.
Since the events of October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out waves of attacks on Iran and its allies throughout the Middle East. This has created an opportunity for the US and Israel to launch their long-planned attack on Iran’s nuclear refining centers. Last year, Israel launched a series of airstrikes, with the support of the United States, on Iran’s air defenses, creating an opening for Thursday’s attack.
Israel’s attack on Iran is part of what Netanyahu has called a plan to create a “new Middle East” under US-Israeli domination. This includes the annexation of all of Palestine by Israel through ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, to be followed by the West Bank.
The attack on Iran takes place in the context of the ongoing coup being carried out by US President Donald Trump to transform the United States into a presidential dictatorship. The US has deployed thousands of active-duty combat troops to Los Angeles, and this weekend the Trump administration will be holding a military parade in Washington, involving the deployment of 7,000 troops and over 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency in Israel and warned the population to expect retaliatory attacks from Iran.
Video footage circulating Thursday night showed attacks on high-rise buildings in Tehran, likely indicating that Iranian government officials were targeted.
In a statement issued Thursday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. 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 US interests or personnel.”
Rubio claimed, “We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.” However, the US military is expected to be directly involved in defending Israel against Iranian retaliation.
US Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter, “Game on. Pray for Israel.”
On Wednesday, Iran’s defense minister, Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, threatened to attack US bases in the Middle East in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran. “If a conflict is imposed on us all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries.”
Amid media reports that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program could take place as early as this weekend, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, prior to Israel’s attack, said that such an attack “could very well happen.”
He added, “We have a lot of American people in this area, and I said: ‘we gotta to tell them to go out because something could happen soon’,” adding, “I don’t want to be the one that didn’t give any warning and missiles are flying into the buildings.”
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing a senior Israeli official, said a strike “could come as soon as Sunday.” The previous night, the New York Times reported, “Israel appears to be preparing to launch an attack soon on Iran, according to officials in the United States and Europe.”
That day, the US announced that it is withdrawing non-essential personnel from its embassy in Iraq and authorizing the voluntary departure of US military family members from bases in the Middle East.
“Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq,” the State Department said in a statement to the media on Wednesday.
Asked about a potential Israeli attack on Iran, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied, “What I know is that Bibi Netanyahu is going to put his country first, and we’re going to put our country first, and we’re positioned properly in the region to ensure that we’re prepared for any potential contingency.”
The Israeli attack came amid ongoing US negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. On Thursday, the White House announced that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, would meet Iran’s foreign minister in Oman on Sunday for further negotiations.
In 2018, then-President Trump abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration, reimposing savage economic sanctions and leading Iran to expand its nuclear program.