Iran launcheс series of retaliatory strikes against Israel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes against Israel overnight on Saturday. Five attacks were reported, including targets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ahmad Vahidi, stated that 150 locations were struck, including Nevatim and Ovda air bases housing F‑35, F‑16 and F‑15 jets, as well as tanker and transport aircraft, Sputnik Armenia reports.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted some of the missiles. Iran’s IRNA agency reported damage to buildings used by Israeli armed forces and the Ministry of Defense. Tehran also claimed two Israeli F‑35 fighters were destroyed, though the IDF has not confirmed this. Israeli media report four dead and seventy wounded.

That same night, explosions were heard in Tehran. Preliminary reports indicate a strike at Mehrabad Airport. A blast also occurred at a base in Hamadan, according to ILNA.

Israel’s military has said its air force continues strikes in Iran “to eliminate threats.”

Early on June 13, the IDF launched a large‑scale operation named Rising Lion, during which the air force targeted military sites and facilities related to Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli authorities say the operation aims to “prevent an existential threat to the Jewish state,” citing military and intelligence assessments that Iran has approached a “point of no return” in developing nuclear weapons in the near future.

The strike on Tehran reportedly killed six nuclear scientists, including Mohammad Mehdi Tehran‑chi and former Atomic Energy Organization head Fereydoun Abbasi. Three senior generals were also killed: Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC Central Command Chief Gholam Ali Rashid, and IRGC Commander Hossein Salami.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called Israel’s strikes “a crime,” warning that Israel faces a “bitter and terrible fate.”