The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that three of Iran’s top military leaders were killed in early morning airstrikes carried out by Israel across Iran on June 13.
In a statement on the social media platform X, an IDF spokesperson said Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, and the commander of Iran’s Emergency Command were killed in the Israeli strikes.
The spokesperson said the airstrikes were carried out by more than 200 Israeli fighter jets.
"These are three ruthless mass murderers with international blood on their hands. The world is a better place without them," the spokesperson said.
Iranian state media reported that at least two nuclear scientists died in Israeli strikes in Tehran.
Netanyahu said the operation would "continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
Pointing to Iran's nuclear enrichment program, the Israeli leader alleged that in recent years, Tehran has produced "enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs."
"If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time—it could be in a year, it could be within a few months, less than a year. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival," Netanyahu said.
The Israeli prime minister said the strikes targeted the leading Iranian nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz and an individual he described as Iran’s leading scientist working on nuclear weapons.
"We struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program," Netanyahu said in his televised address.
"The Zionist regime has committed a crime in our dear country today at dawn with its satanic, bloodstained hands," Khamenei said. "That regime should anticipate a severe punishment"