Israel kills Iran's top military chiefs, strikes nuclear facility; Tehran says revenge ‘soon’ | Top points

Israel-Iran tension: Israeli military official warned that they are ready to “keep going on for days” with their offensive, depending partly on Iran's response.

Tensions in the Middle East region skyrocketed with Israel launching airstrikes on Iranian soil and killing several of its top military leaders, including the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, in a bid to stop it from acquiring nuclear capabilities.

Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said in a statement that parts of the Natanz (in picture) nuclear enrichment facility were damaged during the Israeli strikes(Reuters)

Israel said that it targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders under what it called "Operation Rising Lion". Follow Israel-Iran strike live updates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country launched strikes on Iran, aiming to hurt its nuclear and military infrastructure.

The Israeli strikes triggered an infuriated response from Iran, resulting in Tehran launching more than 100 drones toward Jerusalem.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Jerusalem will face "severe punishment" for the strikes on his country. Khamenei said that Israel "opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers". Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian later warned that his country's legitimate and powerful response will "make Israel regret its foolish act". Security sources also told Iran's FARS news agency that Tehran's revenge against Israel will "happen soon".

Israel-Iran strike | Top points

1. Israel's Operation Rising Lion: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said after the strikes, "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."Israel took the name of its operation from a biblical verse. Netanyahu was photographed on Thursday putting in a handwritten note into a crack of Jerusalem's Western Wall, Judaism holiest prayer site. The PM's office released an image of the note on Friday, which said, "the people shall rise up as a lion". The expression is from verse 23:24 of Bible's Book of Numbers: “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”
2. Top Iran military officials killed: Israeli strikes on Iran killed the top commander of its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. State media reported that the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed in the attack. Later, Isarel also claimed that it killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's missile programme in Iran.
3. Israel-Iran airspaces closed, flights cancelled: Airspace over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan were closed after Israeli strikes on Iran. Several airlines, including regional and international, cancelled their flights to and from these regions.
4. Israel smuggled drones ahead of strikes: Israeli security officials told The Associated Press that their Mossad spy agency smuggled drones and other weapons into Iran ahead of Friday's airstrikes. However, the news agency said that there was no official comment. HT.com couldn't independently verify the authenticity of this information. Earlier Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Deffrin said that around 200 Israeli fighter jets were involved in the operation against Iran.
5. India issues advisory for citizens: Amid the rising tensions between Israel and Iran, the Indian ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal urged both countries to "avoid any escalatory steps" and said that New Delhi has "close and friendly" relations with them. Meanwhile, India also urged its thousands of citizens in Iran and Israel to remain vigilant following the Israeli strikes.
6. Israel threatens further attacks: Israeli defence ministry Israel Katz, soon after the strikes on Iran, warned that the military would "continue its activities to thwart the Iranian nuclear program and remove threats on the State of Israel". Later, an Israeli official also said that they are prepared to "keep going on for days", depending partly on Iran's response. 
7. Iran's nuclear enrichment facility damaged: Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said in a statement that parts of the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility were damaged during the Israeli strikes, clarifying that no nuclear radiation or chemical contamination occurred. Earlier, the UN nuclear watchdog also said that Iran's underground enrichment site at Fordo "has not been impacted". However, Israel has claimed that it struck Iran's uranium enrichment centrifuges in Natanz.
8. World leaders urge restraint: Leaders from across the world expressed concern over the tense situation in the Middle East and urged both Iran and Israel to exercise restraint. US State Secretary Marco Rubio clarified that America was not involved in Israel's "unilateral" strikes against Iran. The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, urged "parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation". Grossi also expressed his readiness to travel to Iran and assess the situation there. Similarly, Japan, China, Australia, and the UK all called for de-escalation of the situation.
9. Iran names new military chiefs: Hours after Israeli strikes eliminated the top leadership of its military groups, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi the new chief of staff of the armed forces and Mohammad Pakpour the head of the elite Revolutionary Guard.
10. Israel-Iran tensions trigger oil prices: Israeli strikes on Iran and the latter's retaliatory actions have led to a surge in oil prices and a dive in stocks. US benchmark crude oil increased by $4.97 to $72.91 per barrel. The international standard, Brent crude, rose by $4.78 to $74.15 per barrel. News agency AP reported, citing Richard Joswick, head of near-term oil at S&P Global Commodity Insights, that oil prices are likely to further rise in the short term, leaving a key question of whether exports will be affected.