New Delhi: Iran fired off what appears to be the largest singular wave of ballistic missiles at Israel in their history as a result of American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said.
The missile volley came after U.S. B-2 stealth bomber raids on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, which President Trump said were destroyed in Iran, leaving them with no enrichment capacity. The IDF said it has intercepted several missiles, but others have fallen in residential and army locations, and emergency teams were dispatched to tend to the injured. Official casualty numbers are still uncertain, but based on the magnitude of the assault, it may have been a major loss.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, who is normally a forceful voice during a crisis, has become mute and has moved to a secret bomb shelter to avoid being assassinated, said Iranian officials. Any electronic communications have been cut off to hide his whereabouts, and until such a time that he reappears, no one can say what will be the strategic response of Iran. According to the sources, Khamenei has designated three clerics as possible successors while internal contingency plans are being developed in response to the costs of the war.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the U.S. strikes a flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). As he wrote on X, Iran has all legal rights to protect its rights, interests, and people. The consequences of this unjustified assault would be severe and perilous. Araghchi insisted on the question of a swift UN Security Council meeting to deal with this criminal U.S. act.
Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, asserts that the U.S. intervention has brought the region to the brink of a wider conflict. She added that the missile inventory (2,000–3,000) in Iran presents a constant threat, even when surrounded by Israeli and U.S. air defences.
According to the Iranian Health Ministry, the U.S. and Israeli forces killed 452 people, and Tehran infrastructure, namely hospitals and refineries, was in bad shape.