Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites and kills top generals. Iran retaliates with missile barrages
Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
By JON GAMBRELL, MELANIE LIDMAN and JULIA FRANKEL / Associated Press 13 min read
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists.
Israel asserted the barrage was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Iran was actively working on such a weapon before the strikes.
Iran retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions flared in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the earlier wave of missiles, to head to shelter, as missiles damaged homes and killed two people.
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Fire and smoke rises from a destroyed building that was hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)People walk in an nearly empty alley in Jerusalem’s Old City as Israel’s Home Front Command banned public gatherings following an Israeli military strike on Iran, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)A view of Jerusalem’s Old City, with the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, closed to worshippers after Israel’s Homefront Command banned public gatherings following an Israeli military strike on Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)Iranian protesters chant slogans as one of them holds up a poster of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)An Iranian worshipper prays as he attends Friday prayers ceremony at Tehran University campus in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport is empty of passengers following an Israeli military strike on Iran, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)In this photo released by the Iranian Red Crescent Society rescuers work at the scene of an explosion after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (Iranian Red Crescent Society via AP)Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray next to the closed Jaffa Gate just outside Jerusalem’s Old City following a ban on public gatherings imposed by Israel’s Home Front Command after a military strike on Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)Smoke rises after a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)Damage is seen to an apartment building after Israeli attacks in Tehran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Traces are seen over Jerusalem during a missile attack alert, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)This photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech, under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, Friday, June 13, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)Debris from an apartment building is seen on top of parked cars after a strike in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)A firefighter stands on a crane at the scene of an explosion at a residence compound after Israeli attacks in Tehran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Firefighters and people clean up the scene of an explosion at a residence compound after Israeli attacks in Tehran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)An Iranian protester holds up an anti-U.S. placard and a poster of the late revolutionary guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. attack in Iraq in 2020, in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Residents watch a damaged apartment in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Iranian protesters hold up Iranian and Palestinian flags in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)A projectile hit buildings as Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)Fire and smoke rises from a destroyed building that was hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)Smoke billows after a projectile hit a building in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)Projectiles break up in the night sky over Jerusalem during an Iranian missile attack, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Israeli security forces run to take cover while missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)An explosion caused by a projectile strike illuminates the skyline in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)The trace of a projectile is seen before hitting Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)People view remnants of a missile fallen on a field between Najaf and Karbala, Iraq, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Iranian missiles strike Israel
Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday.
