Iran hits Israel with a second wave of missiles

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Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, generals and scientists killed 78 people and wounded more than 320 on Friday, Iran’s ambassador told the U.N. Security Council, but he said “the overwhelming majority” of victims were civilians.

The ambassador spoke shortly after Iran retaliated with a barrage of long-range missiles targeting Israel’s commercial capital, Tel Aviv, wounding at least 34 people, Israel’s paramedic service said.

Israel launched the attacks on Iran amid simmering tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. For years, Israel had threatened such a strike and successive American administrations had sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran’s dispersed and hardened nuclear program.

As Iranian projectiles and Israeli interceptor rockets left trails of smoke and flame across the night sky, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to let Israel “escape safely from this great crime.”

What to know:

Israel struck nuclear sites and killed top military leaders: Nuclear enrichment sites and a refinery were hit, killing leading nuclear scientists. Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal was also targeted and three of the nation’s top military leaders were killed.
Attack comes after weeks of escalating tensions: Iran said on Thursday it would activate a third nuclear enrichment facility shortly after a U.N. watchdog censured Iran for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government survived an attempt to dissolve Israel’s parliament Thursday, the most serious challenge to his government since the Oct. 7 attack.
What international leaders are saying: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge saying Iran would not allow Israel to “escape safely from this great crime they committed.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military planned for months “to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.” U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a deal “before it is too late.”