World on edge after Israel strikes Iran, kills multiple commanders and nuclear scientists

• Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion,” a large-scale airstrike campaign across multiple Iranian cities, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists
• Among those killed were Iran’s armed forces chief, Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC commander Hossein Salami
• The attacks struck Tehran, Isfahan, Natanz, and other strategic sites, causing severe damage to military facilities and nuclear infrastructure
• Iran’s Supreme Leader vowed retaliation, while Israel declared a state of emergency as it intercepted over 100 retaliatory drones

Tensions in the Middle East soared to alarming levels after Israel carried out an unprecedented airstrikes across multiple Iranian cities, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

The Israeli offensive, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, was one of the most aggressive actions in the decades-long shadow war between the two nations.

According to the BBC, the attack marks an escalation that threatens to plunge the region into full-blown conflict.

Who were killed in Israeli strikes on Iran

Iranian state media confirmed that the country’s top military chief, Mohammad Bagheri, was among those killed.

Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, is the most senior official to be assassinated in years.

Also killed in the strike was Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), whose death was later confirmed in an official statement by the Guards. One of Bagheri’s deputies was also reportedly eliminated.

Other high-profile figures targeted and killed included Gholamali Rashid, commander of Iran’s Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters; Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a strike on his apartment in northern Tehran.

Two nuclear scientists, Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, and Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, a physicist tied to Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, were also killed.

The Israeli strikes hit at least a dozen military installations and strategic sites, including missile depots, nuclear facilities, and air defense systems.

Cities affected by the night attack on Iran included Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Arak.

State media reported extensive damage at the Natanz nuclear site, one of Iran’s most fortified enrichment facilities.

In Tehran, entire apartment blocks were flattened, especially in areas believed to house military officers and nuclear scientists.

Unlike previous Israeli operations that usually targeted individuals abroad in covert missions, this attack reached deep inside Iran, wiping out the upper tier of its military leadership in their homes, some within supposedly secure compounds.

Reacting on state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a stern warning, vowing retaliation for Israel's action.

"By God’s will, the powerful hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will not let it (Israel)go unpunished.The Zionist regime with this crime has created a dark and painful fate for itself, and it will definitely receive it," he said.

The Supreme leader did not mention the US, though Iranian officials repeatedly tied Washington to the assault.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the operation a targeted military response to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.

In a televised address, he warned that Iran had recently taken alarming steps toward weaponising enriched uranium.

"It could be within months. Less than a yea. This is a clear and present danger," he said in a video statement

The Israeli Defense Forces said Iran had retaliated by launching around 100 drones toward Israel.

According to the IDF, it had intercepted several of them and remained on high alert, awaiting Iran's response.

A state of emergency was also declared across Israel in anticipation of further strikes.