Iran, Israel trade attacks as casualties reported on both sides

“The IDF began intercepting drones launched from Iran outside the country’s borders,” Israel Defense Forces Arab Media spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on the social platform X.

Jordanian state media also reported it had begun intercepting missiles and drones in its airspace.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem directed U.S. government employees and their families to shelter in place indefinitely. The embassy also warned employees could be restricted from traveling to certain parts of Israel.

“The U.S. Embassy reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness — including knowing the location of the nearest shelter in the event of a red alert as security incidents, including mortar, rocket, and missile fire, and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) intrusions, often take place without any warning,” the embassy said. “The security environment is complex and can change quickly.”

Israel said more than 200 fighter jets were used in the strike, killing three of Iran’s top leaders and striking more than 100 targets across Iran. Officials also said hideout locations of senior Iranian military officials were targeted.

The Israel Defense Forces said a third Iranian leader, Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who oversaw the Khatam al-Anbia emergency command headquarters, was killed in the strike.

Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Deffrin said that approximately 200 Israeli fighter jets participated in the operation, striking some 100 targets, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X, “In recent hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory (it takes them up to 7 hours to arrive).”

President Donald Trump said there were no surprises during an interview with Fox News. He reiterated that the U.S. was not involved militarily.

He also said he hoped Iran would return to the negotiating table.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” he said, about those killed.

Trump said he is watching for retaliation. U.S. Central Command is on high alert, and he said the U.S. will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates.

Trump said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times in recent days. The only call publicly announced was on Monday.

A former Middle East editor for the Associated Press is trying to read between the lines of Israel’s strike Thursday against Iran, given that the Trump administration was ostensibly working on a deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Dan Perry joined NewsNation from Tel Aviv to discuss the backdrop of Israel’s attack and to try to answer: Why now?

“The idea that the U.S. was negotiating with Iran as an equal was always ridiculous,” he said, considering President Donald Trump voided a U.S.-Iran pact in 2018 to restrict the country from developing nuclear weapons.

“On Balance” host Leland Vittert said Israel’s strike on Iran could provoke different responses from the nation depending on why Israel launched the attack.

“We have to know what the Israelis hit,” Vittert, a former Middle East correspondent, said. “The question is: Was this Israel letting the Iranians know that they can do it, or was this the Israelis actually trying to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities?”

Vittert added the Israelis care more about bringing the remaining hostages home from the war with Hamas, and that if the country’s jets actually went into Iranian airspace, then it means there was a much larger operation underway because that means they needed search and rescue available. He said targeting the nuclear sites is a step above targeted assassinations.

Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state for House Affairs, tells NewsNation’s “On Balance” he can envision a situation where there would be “troops on the ground sent by Israel into Iran,” while Senator Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. says he does not think “there’s a way they could actually deploy troops unless we were with them.”

Here is what to know about Iran’s nuclear sites

Iranian media reports and multiple outlets, including The New York Times, report that the chief of Iran’s military, Mohammad Bagheri, was killed in an Israeli strike.

Explosions reported in Iran. Two Iranian officials say that a third wave of attacks have started targeting radars and air defense across the country, according to the New York Times and The Associated Press.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Israel will face “severe punishment” over its attack on the country, multiple news agencies reported, including the Associated Press and the Times of Israel.

Khamenei issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It also confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.

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,” Khamenei said.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney tells NewsNation President Donald Trump is in the situation room monitoring the attacks.

Defense Minister Israel Katz in an address said, “This is a defining moment in the history of the State of Israel and in the history of the Jewish people.

Tonight, the IDF is launching an operation against the head of the Iranian octopus in order to thwart its capabilities and remove the threats of annihilation from the State of Israel.

Upon entering office, I defined the thwarting of Iran’s nuclear program as a top priority.

Iran is more determined than ever to realize its vision of destroying Israel.

We are at a critical juncture — if we miss it, we will have no way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon that threatens our existence. We have dealt with Iran’s proxies over the past year and a half, but now we are dealing with the snake’s head itself. The IDF has built, over many years and especially in recent months, exceptional capabilities in intelligence and operations — in both defense and offense — that enable us to effectively confront the major challenges ahead.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., tells NewsNation Israel “has a right to defend itself, full stop.” Mullins joins NewsNation’s “On Balance” and says it was not “by mistake” that the U.S. redeployed military members stationed in the region in the recent days, but that “Trump will defend Americans on foreign soil if we have to.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Unit is closely monitoring the situation following Israeli strikes on Iran.

In a statement posted late Thursday night, Adams said, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are increasing security at houses of worship and at Israeli diplomatic sites.”

He continued, “I am praying for peace in the region.”

The NYPD confirmed the deployment of additional resources to Jewish, Israeli and other sensitive locations across New York City, coordinating efforts with federal partners. Authorities said there is no credible threat to NYC at this time but said they are prepared to respond to any developments.

The Trump administration tried to distance itself Thursday from Israel’s attack on Iran, but retaliatory actions against the U.S. were top of mind for some. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned Iranian leaders against harming American service members stationed in the Middle East.

“Understand, if you attack American military bases, if you kill even one American serviceman or woman, President Trump will respond with overwhelming force,” he said.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quotes an anonymous official saying Iran will offer a ‘decisive’ response to Israel’s attack, The <a href=”https://apnews.com/live/israel-iran-attack#00000197-6711-d583-a19f-7f9f40460000″>Associated Press reported.

Iran’s state television reported prominent nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were also killed in the same wave of Israeli attacks.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has ordered all American government employees and their family members to shelter in place until further notice, citing the heightened security situation across Israel.

Iranian state television is reporting the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran has been hit in Israeli airstrikes, with fire and smoke seen rising from the site.

Local media say the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, may have been killed in the attack, according to multiple reports.

The Israeli military reportedly launched a widespread barrage of missiles and drones targeting sites across Iran, including its capital. Video shows smoke blanketing parts of Tehran’s skyline.

President Trump is expected to hold a Cabinet meeting tomorrow to address the escalating crisis.

Trump will attend a National Security Council meeting in the Situation Room on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, vowed to continue the country’s uranium enrichment efforts despite foreign attacks, saying, “We will continue down our own path, we will have enrichment.”

He added that even if Iran’s nuclear facilities are destroyed, the nation’s scientific knowledge remains intact: “All these capabilities are in our minds, and therefore, whatever they do, we will rebuild.”

Pezeshkian added: “I don’t know how we should cooperate with the outside world to make them stop evil acts and let the people live independently in this country.”

Dan Perry, former Middle East editor for The Associated Press, joined NewsNation from Tel Aviv to discuss Israel’s strike on Iran. His view: The Trump administration’s negotiations with Iran on its nuclear capabilities may have been part of a broader strategy.

“It now appears as if that might have been a misdirection and might have been a part of a more complicated set of negotiating tactics. Because clearly (Trump) let loose the dogs, and he let the Israelis attack the Iranians,” Perry said.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the Israeli strike “a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence.”

“I urge both nations to show immediate restraint, and I call on President Trump and our international partners to press for diplomatic de-escalation before this crisis spirals further out of control. President Trump must be crystal clear with the American people and the international community in charting a way forward. The world cannot afford more devastating conflict born of short-sighted violence.”

Initial reports suggest Israel’s preemptive strikes against Iran have hit residential areas, says Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an expert on the Middle East. “If that’s credible, this is the beginning of a ‘shock and awe’ (campaign), and you’re going to have civilian casualties,” he tells NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Iran is working on “the new plan to destroy Israel.”

Netanyahu said Israel’s preemptive strike targeted the core of Iran’s nuclear enrichment and weaponization program, including the main facility in Natanz and key ballistic missile sites. He also confirmed Iranian nuclear scientists were among the targets.

He added that “Operation Rising Lion” will continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

He referenced Iran’s October attack, when 300 missiles were launched at Israel, each capable of carrying a ton of explosives. He cautioned that soon those missiles could carry nuclear warheads and said Iran is preparing to produce tens of thousands more in the next three years.

He thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for confronting Iran on its nuclear program.

Former Trump Vice President Mike Pence, in a post on X, said, “Iran must never be allowed to obtain a usable nuclear weapon. The Mullahs in Tehran refused to dismantle their nuclear program. Now it must be destroyed. Our prayers and unwavering support are with Israeli Forces. America Stands With Israel.”

South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “Game on. Pray for Israel.”

Iran halted flights Friday at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the country’s main airport, Iranian state TV said and The Associated Press reported.

Iran has closed its airspace in the past when launching previous attacks against Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.