Two killed, five injured in western Iran
Two people have been killed and five wounded in an Israeli attack on Iran’s western province of Hamdan. Those injured in the attack included rescue workers, the security assistant to the governor of Hamdan said.
‘Punitive action necessary’ against Israel: Iran
Fatemeh Mohajerani, a government spokesperson, says punishing Israel was “essential for restoring our national pride and reclaiming the rightful rights of our people”, after Iran carried out strikes overnight.
“It was necessary to take punitive action in response to the terrorist and brutal act of the Zionist regime,” she said in an interview with Mehr News Agency.
“Therefore, following the order of the commander-in-chief and in coordination with the armed forces, an action was taken to punish this regime. Naturally, such measures will continue and will persist whenever and wherever necessary.”
‘Not much sympathy with Israel’
Hamed Mousavi, a professor of political science at Tehran University, says nobody in Iran is listening to the Netanyahu regime’s message directed towards the Iranian people.
“We’re not seeing any sort of protests or riots [against the Iranian regime] on the streets of Tehran or other cities,” he said.
The analyst pointed out it is “hypocritical” of Prime Minister Netanyahu to talk about freeing the Iranian people “while bombing them at the same time”.
Mousavi noted the Israelis have been instrumental in persuading the United States to sanction Iran. “We know that the sanctions ultimately hurt the Iranian people, so there’s not much sympathy with the Israelis right now,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The attack [on Iran] was unprovoked and it took place at a time when nuclear negotiations with the Americans were progressing, at least relatively. Even Donald Trump had repeatedly said that things were moving forward. The [Israeli] bombing essentially killed that path.”
Iranians attend an anti-Israeli rally on Friday in Tehran
Three Iranian nuclear scientists killed in Israeli attacks: Report
Three Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in Israeli attacks, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency reports. The scientists were identified as Ali Bakaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari and Saeid Borji, it said.
The Israeli military said its air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities resulted in the deaths of nine leading Iranian nuclear scientists.
“During the Israeli air force strikes at the onset of Operation Rising Lion, nine senior scientists and experts, who advanced the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons programme, were eliminated,” a statement said, listing the names of those killed. “Their elimination represents a significant blow to the Iranian regime’s ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”
The military said the strikes were carried out on the basis of “precise intelligence gathered by the intelligence directorate”.
