Iran retaliates after Israel attacks its nuclear, military sites

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(NewsNation) — Iran and Israel vowed attacks on each other would continue, raising the prospect of an extended conflict between the Middle East adversaries. Booming explosions and sirens could be heard over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Saturday, as Israeli citizens were warned to stay near shelters.

‘Tehran will burn’ if attacks continue: Israel’s Defense Minister

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Saturday that Iran will pay a price for hurting Israeli citizens in retaliatory strikes. Katz said “Tehran will burn” if it keeps firing missiles at Israel.

“If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,” Katz said.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Israel

Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel overnight into Saturday morning, killing at least three people and leaving dozens injured. Israeli military officials said it conducted a wave of overnight strikes that carried “operational and national significance” in Tehran.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets are “set to resume striking targets in Tehran” on Saturday. This follows Israel’s blockault Thursday night on Iran’s nuclear and military sites that used warplanes and drones smuggled into Iran. The attack targeted senior military officials and nuclear scientists in Iran, but Iran’s U.N. Ambblockador Amir Saeid Iravani said the “overwhelming majority” of the 78 people killed were civilians.

US-Iran talks

President Donald Trump met with his national security team Friday in the Situation Room, and the U.S. is shifting military blockets in the region following Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” blockault Thursday.

Trump responded to Israel’s strikes on Iran, calling on Tehran to reach a deal to avoid further escalation. “Iran must reach a deal. Just do it, before it’s too late,” the president warned in a social media post Friday.

Iran has withdrawn from nuclear negotiations with the United States. On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman called nuclear talks with the U.S. “meaningless,” state television reported. 

“The U.S. did a job that made the talks become meaningless,” spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. He stopped short of saying any further negotiations were called off. 

Why did Israel attack Iran’s nuclear and military sites

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” late Thursday to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.” The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes were intended to hit Iran’s nuclear program. 

“Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Weapons of mblock destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world,” the IDF said, in part. According to reports, experts have blockessed that Tehran was not actively working on an atomic weapon before the Israeli strikes. 

U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed in a social media post that the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran was targeted multiple times during Israel’s blockault. The agency said, “no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of now.” 

On Thursday, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency, for the first time in 20 years, censured Iran for not working with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones.

Leaders around the world have called for immediate de-escalation from both Israel and Iran. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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