Israel said on Saturday that it has taken part in a U.S.-led military operation in Iran, with Jerusalem reportedly targeting the top leadership of the Islamist regime in Tehran.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among those targeted by Israeli forces on Saturday in strikes conducted in conjunction with an attempt by the United States to destroy Tehran’s missile programme, the Times of Israel reported.
The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, as well as Iran’s defence and intelligence chiefs, were also said to be targeted in the strikes. It is currently unknown which, if any, strikes were successful at the time of this reporting.
The Israeli Defence Forces said that it had struck “hundreds of targets” in Western Iran as part of its so-called “Operation Roaring Lion”. Targets included missile launchers, the IDF said.
Meanwhile, New York Times reporter Christiaan Triebert published a satellite image purporting to show the destruction of Khamenei’s compound in Iran. It is unclear if the Ayatollah was in the compound at the time of the apparent attack.
In an address to the nation on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Trump for his “historic leadership” and indicated that the goal was to topple the regime in Tehran.
“For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has called out ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America.’ It has shed our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people,” Netanyahu said.
“This murderous terror regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” he continued, adding: “Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”
“The time has come for all parts of the Iranian people — the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baloch, and the Ahwazi — to cast off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peace-seeking Iran,” he declared.
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