Israel says it hit Iran nuclear research facility, killed top commanders as both trade strikes
Israel on Saturday said it struck an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan and killed two top commanders as the clash between the two Middle Eastern countries expands and President Trump weighs direct intervention.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets later in the day also moved to strike military infrastructure in southwestern Iran, according to an Israeli military statement.
Saeed Izadi, leader of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force and Behnam Shahriyari, commander of the Quds Force's Weapons Transfer Unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were pronounced dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) early Saturday.
Israeli officials in a social media post said Izadi was 'one of the main orchestrators' of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack from Hamas.
The IDF said Shahriyari was responsible for weapons transfer from Iran to proxies across the Middle East. Israeli officials said he was killed while traveling in western Iran.
'His elimination represents a severe blow to the ability of the terrorist organizations surrounding Israel to regroup and strengthen after being heavily damaged by the IDF during the war,' the IDF wrote.
The IRGC has not confirmed the deaths but Akbar Salehi, Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, did confirm damage to their nuclear site in Isfahan, per The Associated Press.
Israeli forces, Salehi said, struck the site twice within 24 hours, crippling two centrifuge production sites as a part of their objective to eliminate Iran's nuclear development programs.
Iran fired 40 drones overnight on Friday that were intercepted by Israel according to the IDF.
'We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,' an Israeli military official told AP on the condition of anonymity. 'Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.'
The escalation of tensions comes as Trump still weighs his options on U.S. involvement, but has warned Iran not to attack American troops. Citizens are also being evacuated in Israel, per US officials.
''Operation Exodus'' is helping US citizens evacuate Israel. We can't part the Red Sea, but are parting the 'Red Tape' to help people who wish to leave,' U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote in a Saturday post on X.
Foreign leaders gathered in Geneva to seek to assist in quelling the violence in the region via diplomacy on Friday, however, talks quickly reached a stalemate as Iranian leaders pushed for consequences on Israel.
'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters.
The United Nations issued a Friday release after the meetings in Geneva condemning Israeli attacks while denouncing the strikes as a violation of international law.
Israel first hit Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13, prompting tensions to escalate in the region as US nuclear talks with Iran collapsed.
Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in an online interview with NewsNation, The Hill's sister station, on Friday that since strikes began, over 3,000 Iranians have been injured, 90 percent of whom are civilians. He said at least 400 people have been killed.
The spokesperson added that the youngest injured is a 4-year-old boy, and the youngest victim is a two-month-old baby.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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