The United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran on Saturday, during which President Donald Trump appealed directly to the Iranian public to take control of their future and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the country since 1979. Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in a joint strike.
The US president said the operation would remove a security threat to the United States and give the Iranians an opportunity to overthrow their leaders. The Pentagon has revealed that the military action against Iran has been named “OPERATION EPIC FURY”.
Iran’s nuclear program has been cited by Israel and the United States as a key justification for the attacks, with both countries saying Tehran is moving closer to developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday that joint US-Israeli airstrikes targeted the country’s Natanz nuclear facility.
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, told reporters he condemned what he described as “illegal, criminal and brutal” attacks carried out by the US and Israel against Iran.
“Yesterday they again attacked Iran’s peaceful protected nuclear facilities. Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” he mentioned.
When Reza Najafi was asked to clarify which place he was referring to, he replied, “Natanz.”
While the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday there was no evidence yet that the Israeli and US strikes on Iran had hit any nuclear sites, despite Iran’s envoy claiming the previous day that one facility had been targeted.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear facilities… have been damaged or affected,” Reuters quoted International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi as saying at a meeting of the agency’s 35-nation board of governors.
Targets in Iran were hit by the US military
Israel said it had been coordinating with the United States for months in preparation for the operation. The U.S. military said its targets in Iran include Revolutionary Guard command centers, air defense systems, missile and drone launchers and military air bases, AP reports.
One of the first strikes landed near the offices of 86-year-old Ali Khamenei. Israel also said it had killed dozens of senior Iranian military officials and that subsequent strikes in Lebanon killed Hezbollah intelligence officials. The strikes in Tehran reportedly knocked Iran’s state television off the air.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Red Crescent Society said on Monday that attacks in 131 cities had so far left at least 555 dead in the Islamic republic.
