Tehran, Iran – In the early hours of Friday morning, a series of powerful explosions rocked Tehran and several other Iranian cities, amid rapidly intensifying tensions in the Middle East, reported by Tehran Times. Israeli officials have confirmed the launch of a major military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, marking a dramatic escalation in the long-standing shadow conflict between the two regional powers.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that the strikes—part of a newly launched operation dubbed Operation Rising Lion—were aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities and neutralizing key military assets. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the mission as a “necessary action” against a regime he claims threatens “Israel’s very survival.”
As the Israeli strikes unfolded, plumes of smoke were seen rising above the Tehran skyline. Residents reported hearing thunderous blasts in and around the capital, with similar reports emerging from other cities across the country. Social media quickly flooded with unverified images showing damaged buildings, smoldering debris, and, in some instances, bodies—reportedly including women and children—among the rubble of residential neighborhoods.
Iranian state media later confirmed that Major General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in the strikes. The same reports stated that Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, was also among the dead, alongside several other senior officials, as reported by the BBC News. The loss of such high-ranking figures, if confirmed, would mark one of the most devastating single blows to Iran’s military and nuclear command in recent memory.
While Israeli sources assert the operation was focused strictly on military and nuclear targets, the civilian toll remains unclear. The Israeli government has declared a nationwide state of emergency, anticipating retaliatory strikes from Iran or its regional allies. In Jerusalem, air raid sirens rang out before dawn, followed by emergency alerts to residents’ mobile phones.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement distancing the United States from the Israeli operation, describing it as “unilateral action” and affirming that the U.S. was not involved. Nevertheless, U.S. embassy staff and their families had already begun evacuating the region days earlier, amid growing intelligence signals that an Israeli strike on Iran was imminent.
Iranian authorities have yet to issue a comprehensive statement, though in the days leading up to the attack, officials had warned that any aggression on Iranian soil would provoke what they described as a “devastating” response.
As dawn breaks over Tehran, uncertainty and fear grip a nation bracing for what could become a broader regional conflagration. The world watches anxiously, as two long-time adversaries move dangerously close to the brink of war.
