Iran Strikes Back at Israel With Large Missile Attack

Iran launched dozens of missiles at Israel on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Explosions were heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as sirens sounded across Israel.  

More than 40 people in Israel were injured in the attack, a number of sources reported.  

The missile attack on Israel from Iran came less than 24 hours after Israel launched a major attack on Iran’s nuclear program, striking multiple nuclear sites. Fox News reported that the U.S. is helping Israel shoot down the incoming Iranian missiles. 

American fighter jets are also reportedly patrolling in the Middle East to protect U.S. assets and personnel in the region.

U.S. officials say there are “hundreds of thousands of American citizens and other American assets in Israel, and the U.S. is working to protect them,” Fox reported. There are currently two U.S. Navy destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to outlet.  

While Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday night that the U.S. was not involved in Israel’s attack on Iran, President Donald Trump has confirmed that the U.S. was informed of Israel’s plans beforehand. Trump also met with members of his National Security Council on Friday.  

Trump had given Iran 60 days to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S., and Thursday marked Iran’s deadline, but Trump said Friday that a deal is still possible.  

“I couldn’t get them to a deal in 60 days. They were close. They should have done it. Maybe now it will happen,” Trump told Axios on Friday.  

In a conversation with CNN’s Dana Bash, Trump expressed similar optimism that Israel’s strike on Iran might bring Iran to the negotiating table.  

“The people I was dealing with are dead, the hard-liners,” Trump said, referring to the Iranian leaders who were not willing to agree to U.S. terms for a nuclear deal.  

Israeli strikes are reported to have killed Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Gen. Gholamali Rashid, the deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces; Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff for Iran’s armed forces; and Ali Shamkhani, a top Iranian naval officer and former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, two nuclear scientists, have reportedly also been killed.    

Trump repeatedly said in recent weeks that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and following reports of a deal that would allow for some uranium enrichment to continue in Iran, he said any deal with Iran would ban all enrichment. But Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said there would be no deal if Iran was not allowed to continue enrichment. 

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech Friday and spoke directly to the Iranian people, telling them “Israel’s fight is not against the Iranian people.” 

“The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for almost 50 years, threatens to destroy my country, the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “The objective of Israel’s military operation is to remove this threat—both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel.” 

 “And as we achieve our objective,” the prime minister added, “we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom.” 

On Friday afternoon, Israel confirmed it carried out strikes against Iran’s nuclear plant in the city of Isfahan after carrying out strikes against other nuclear sites, including on Natanz Nuclear Facility, Iran’s largest uranium-enrichment complex, and multiple military bases.   

Sirens continued to sound across Israel late Friday night and into Saturday morning local time, according to the IDF.  

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