Iran: Israel’s Attacks Crossed the Line, Amount to Declaration of War

By Daniel Okejeme with agency report

Following a series of Israeli military strikes targeting approximately 100 sites in Iran, including key nuclear facilities, which led to the deaths of high-ranking military officials and notable nuclear scientists on Friday morning, Iran has denounced the attacks as a “declaration of war”.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Israel it faces a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks, whilst the Iranian military said there are “no limits” to its response.

In a letter to the United Nations, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, described Israel’s attack as a “declaration of war” and “called on the Security Council to address this issue immediately”

The Israeli military said Iran launched around 100 drones, with air defences intercepting them outside Israeli territory, while neighbouring Jordan said it intercepted drones and missiles that violated its airspace.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News he had prior knowledge of Israel’s planned strikes on Iran, stressing that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb”.

He also noted that the US is ready to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates.

In a speech announcing the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, taking aim at nuclear scientists and the main underground enrichment facility in Natanz.

The strikes would ‘continue as many days as it takes’, the Israeli leader said, while the military said intelligence showed Iran was approaching the ‘point of no return’ on its nuclear programme.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the “precise targeting of senior commanders… sends a strong and clear message: those who work toward Israel’s destruction will be eliminated”.

The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.

Khamenei has swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed in the recent Israeli airstrikes.

Specifically, Gen. Habibollah Sayyari has been appointed as the commander-in-chief of Iran’s armed forces, while Gen. Ahmad Vahidi takes over as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards.