Iran retaliates with ballistic missile attack against Israel

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel Friday in retaliation for Israeli strikes attacks aimed at hamstringing Tehran’s nuclear program and weakening the country’s military leadership.

Israeli residents were instructed to go into bomb shelters as smoke could be seen rising over Tel Aviv, while explosions were also heard in Jerusalem, CNN reported; further missile attacks were expected, the IDF said.

American forces helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed towards Israel, two US officials told Reuters.

Israel’s unprecedented strikes on Iran continued Friday evening, targeting one of the country’s largest uranium enrichment facilities in Isfahan as the country’s leadership said it would continue the attacks “as long as necessary.” Several other highly-fortified nuclear facilities have also been targeted, although it remains unclear if they have been destroyed.

Oil prices rose at their fastest pace in three years, while global markets fell as fears of a regional war intensified.

US President Donald Trump urged Iran to “make a deal, before there is nothing left,” later calling the attacks “very successful.”

“Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know, I gave them, I don’t know if you know, but I gave them a 60-day warning, and today is day 61,” he told CNN. It was unclear whether US-Iran nuclear talks set to take place in Oman this Sunday would go ahead.

The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, was killed in Israel’s attack on Tehran, Iranian state media said, along with two other military generals, effectively wiping out Iran’s senior military chain of command. Several scientists who worked on developing Iran’s nuclear program were also reported to have been assassinated Friday. The overnight strikes were reported to have hit densely populated residential neighborhoods in the capital, killing civilians.