Iran has launched a wave of over 100 drones at Israel in direct retaliation for deadly Israeli airstrikes on Tehran late Thursday. The strikes killed top Iranian commanders, including a key Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge just hours after the attack, warning, “That [Zionist] regime should anticipate a severe punishment. By God’s grace, the powerful arm of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces won’t let them go unpunished.”
Iran’s drone barrage marks one of the most serious escalations in recent years. The Israeli military says it’s working to intercept the incoming threats. “All [aerial] defense arrays have been operating to intercept the threats,” said Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin on Friday morning. “This is a different event to what we’ve experienced thus far, and we’re expecting difficult hours.”
The drone launch follows an Israeli operation that killed IRGC commander Hossein Salami, senior IRGC officer Gholam Ali Rashid, and two nuclear scientists: Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in a video, saying the mission would continue: “as many days as it takes.” The operation, called “Rising Lion,” is aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Israeli officials say.
President Donald Trump weighed in, calling on Iran to return to nuclear deal talks or face devastating consequences. “There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” he wrote Friday on Truth Social.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” Trump added. “No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He also suggested this could be Iran’s “second chance.”
U.S. and Iranian officials had planned to meet in Oman for a sixth round of nuclear talks, but Iran has now pulled out following Israel’s attack. Tensions remain high as the U.S. considers scaling back its presence in the region.
