RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has responded to Israel's deadly strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, and military commanders.
Iranian media and witnesses reported that explosions struck several sites, including the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone attacks.
Iranian state television reported that a strike on the Revolutionary Guards’ headquarters in Tehran killed Hossein Salami, the chief of the elite force. It also said the attack on a residential area in the capital killed several children.
“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.
Reacting to the attack, “Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security and constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms.”
“Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
He said Israel targeted Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, the country’s ballistic missile program, and the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, in an operation set to continue for several days.
An Israeli military official confirmed that Israeli forces were striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets, including the Natanz facility in central Iran. The official warned that Iran possessed enough material to produce 15 nuclear bombs within days.
Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency carried out a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official. These operations aimed to damage Iran’s strategic missile sites and air defence capabilities.
Israeli authorities closed Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport until further notice and placed the country’s air defence units on high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
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