Iran vows ‘powerful response’ to Israeli strikes, Trump urges deal

Saturday, 14 June 2025 00:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Iran yesterday vowed ‘powerful response’ to Israeli strikes whilst the latter’s ally US President Donald Trump has called for a deal.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel that it “must expect severe punishment” following the “crime” of attacking Iran and killing several top-level military commanders and six nuclear scientists.

The Israeli military has carried out several waves of air strikes targeting nuclear facilities and military sites across Iran, killing senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in a large-scale attack that raises fears of an all-out war in the region.

In a pre-recorded video message posted early Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at hurting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile factories.

“This operation will take as long as is needed to complete the task of fending off the threat of annihilation against us,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli military confirmed to The Times of Israel newspaper it had “launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s nuclear program” in an operation dubbed “Rising Lion.”

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said Iran’s nuclear program had reached a “point of no return,” and Israel could not “wait for another moment to act” in the “fight to preserve our existence.”

In a later statement, the Israeli army confirmed that 200 fighter jets struck more than 100 targets across the country. Israeli strikes have been confirmed in at least eight locations across Iran, including the capital Tehran, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site in Natanz, and a nuclear research centre in Tabriz.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there was no sign of an increase in radiation levels at Natanz. A fuel enrichment plant in Fordow had also not been affected as of yet, it said, adding that a nuclear plant in Bushehr was also not impacted.

Iranian State media has reported several casualties, with civilians and senior Iranian officials among the dead. Confirmed killed are the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief Hossein Salami, Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and nuclear scientists Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi. It also said six scientists were killed in the overnight attack.

In a statement following the attacks, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Israel to prepare for a “bitter and painful fate.”

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tehran has a “legal and legitimate” right to respond, as it promised to involve the US as Israel’s strikes could not have taken place without its “coordination and authorisation.”

US President Donald Trump said Iran may have a second chance after claiming he gave Tehran 60 days to make a deal two months ago.

“Two months ago, I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61,” the president said in a Truth Social post.

“I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”

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