Iran Vows ‘Painful’ Response After Israeli Attack: What to Know

Iran has vowed that Israel and the U.S. will pay a “heavy price,” according to a military spokesperson, after Israel launched “preemptive” strikes early Friday local time on Iran, amid growing regional tensions and concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a message to his nation that Israel “sealed for itself a bitter and painful destiny.”

The U.S. has disclaimed involvement in the strikes, but Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the attack, which it alleged violated international law, “could not have been carried out without coordination with and approval of the United States” and that the U.S. as Israel’s main supporter will also “be held responsible for the dangerous consequences of Israel’s adventurism.”

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Calling the operations “Rising Lion,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that the strikes targeted areas focused on “nuclear enrichment” and “nuclear weaponization” programs. The operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Netanyahu said.

The Sultanate of Oman, which was meant to host a sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. in its capital Muscat this weekend, blamed Israel for the “escalation and its consequences,” according to Omani state media. Oman said Friday after Israel’s attack that “such conduct threatens to marginalize diplomatic solutions and undermine regional security and stability.” Iranian media, citing officials, reported that the talks will no longer happen following the strikes.

Global leaders have called for calm, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who according to a statement “condemns any military escalation in the Middle East” and “asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford.”

Israel’s attack

Explosions were seen and heard across Iran, including in the capital Tehran as well as in the city of Natanz, where a nuclear facility is located. Sources on the ground tell TIME that apartment buildings where senior Iranian officers and officials were believed to reside appear to have also been targeted.

A journalist based in Tehran who requested anonymity for security reasons tells TIME that he first heard strikes at around 3:24 a.m. local time (7:54 p.m., Thursday, ET). “It was very close to my home … It woke me up,” the journalist said, describing a very loud noise. “The windows were shaking, and I immediately realized this was an attack of some sort.”

The journalist confirmed that some residential complexes were hit in the attack, adding that the strength of the strikes caused some to collapse. “I’m pretty sure that there has been civilian casualties,” the journalist said.

Panic ensued on the ground, the journalist recounted, with people pouring onto the capital’s streets. “Nobody really knows where it’s safe to go.”

Iranian state media reported that Armed Forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Chief Commander Major General Hossein Salami as well as nuclear scientists Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi were among those killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it launched a “preemptive, precise, combined offensive to strike Iran’s nuclear program,” with dozens of Air Force jets targeting “nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.” Axios Reporter Barak Ravid reported that a senior Israel official said the airstrikes were accompanied by a series of Mossad-led “covert sabotage operations deep inside Iran” that were designed to damage Iran’s missile sites and air defense capabilities.

IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said its “preemptive and precise strikes” were targeted to prevent Iran’s “ability to build a nuclear bomb in the immediate time frame.” Defrin added: “We have no choice—we are operating against an imminent and existential threat.” 

Read More: The Tense History and Modern Context Behind Israel’s Reported Plan to Attack Iran

Iran’s response

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that a retaliatory attack on Israel and its civilian population “is expected in the immediate timeframe.”

Israel’s attack comes a day after the U.S. began evacuating embassy personnel across the Middle East amid rising regional tensions as negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program have appeared to stall.

Axios reported Thursday that U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff warned Senate Republicans last week that if Israel were to attack Iran, Iran’s response could involve hundreds of missiles launched at Israeli and U.S. sites that could result in a “mass casualty” event.

The State Department on Thursday night directed all embassy employees and their families in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza to shelter in place.

U.S. reactions

President Donald Trump reportedly told Fox News after Israel’s attack began that he was aware the strikes would take place but that the U.S. was not involved. He added that the U.S. still hopes to engage with Iran in nuclear talks but will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates. 

According to NBC, Trump’s national security team monitored Israel’s strikes on Iran from the Situation Room. The White House said Trump will attend a National Security Council meeting on Friday morning.