AS MANY DAYS AS IT TAKES
Israel’s operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV address.
“Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future.”
Netanyahu, who for decades has raised the alarm about Iran’s nuclear programme, said he authorised the assault to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Israel and its Western allies have said this is Tehran’s objective, but Iran denies it.
Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days, Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
US President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.
Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last US offer.
The price of crude leapt on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across the oil-producing region, although there were no reports that oil production or storage was damaged. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said the escalation did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply.
“WE KNEW EVERYTHING,” TRUMP TELLS REUTERS
In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump said nuclear talks between Tehran and the United States, scheduled for Sunday, were still on the agenda, though he was not sure if they would take place.
“We knew everything,” Trump said of the Israeli attack plans.
“I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out,” Trump said. “They can still work out a deal, however – it’s not too late.”
Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said military action by itself would not destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, but could “create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States” to get rid of it.
Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a stunning decapitation reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon’s once-feared Hezbollah militia last year. Iran also said six of its top nuclear scientists had been killed.
Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, promoted to replace Salami as Guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the supreme leader read on state television, saying: “The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime.”
