As Israel Strikes Twice In Under 24 Hours, Iran Fires Barrage Of Missiles

Tehran has retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles after Israel launched a second offensive against Iran less than 24 hours since the first. Israel said it has hit more than 200 targets, including Iran's nuclear and military establishments. The Israeli military said they have struck the nuclear facility in Isfahan.

Two explosions were reportedly heard near Iran's Fordow nuclear site, it added. In response, when Iran hit back, explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens were sounded across Israel on Friday night. Iran's state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched.

Less than an hour before that, air defences in Iran had been activated as a result of the air strikes by Israel. In a post on X, the Israeli Air Force said it is continuing to "attack missile launchers and infrastructure" in Iran.

On Friday, Israel had attacked Iran's capital, that targeted the country's nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers and six top nuclear scientists, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries.

It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of having started the strikes and initiating a war.

The operation also killed senior officials and scientists. The leader of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was confirmed dead. The chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri was also confirmed dead by state media, apart from officials and scientists.

About 200 Israeli aircrafts took part in Friday's operation and hit about 100 targets. Israel's army chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said that Iran had also launched more than 100 drones towards Israel and that, "all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats."

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei said that Israel "opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers."

However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that he hoped the attacks would trigger the downfall of Iran's theocracy and he also told the people of Iran that the fight was not with them, but with the "brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years."

US President Donald Trump hailed Israel's attack on Iran, and called it "excellent" and warned that there was much to come, according to an interview with ABC News.

"I think it's been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn't take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more," Trump was quoted as saying by an ABC reporter on X.

When he was asked if there was American participation in the strikes, Trump said: "I don't want to comment on that."