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Iranians called for revenge on Friday demanding a swift response to a dizzying wave of strikes by Israel, as some took to the streets in protest, while others sheltered inside, unsure what would happen next.The aerial onslaught killed several of the military’s top brass, targeted an array of leading scientists and struck military and nuclear sites across Iran in an unprecedented attack that left many seething with anger.”How much longer are we going to live in fear?” asked Ahmad Moadi, a 62-year-old retiree. “As an Iranian, I believe there must be an overwhelming response, a scathing response.”The raids appeared to push the longtime enemies into full-blown conflict following years of fighting a shadow war mostly conducted through proxies. Iran regularly arrests individuals it accuses of spying for Israel amid a flurry of targeted assassinations and acts of sabotage targeting its nuclear programme in recent years.At least six scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear programme were killed in Friday’s strikes. “They’ve killed so many university professors and researchers, and now they want to negotiate?” Moadi exclaimed, referring to calls for Iran to go ahead with nuclear talks with Israel’s US ally planned for this weekend.As Iran continued to assess the damage, some residents rallied in the streets of Tehran chanting: “Death to Israel, death to America,” while waving Iranian flags and portraits of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.State television said similar demonstrations were held in cities across the country.The Israeli strikes followed repeated threats from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared to finally cap a years-long quest to strike Iran’s nuclear programme. “We can’t let this bastard continue, or we’ll end up like Gaza,” Abbas Ahmadi, a 52-year-old Tehran resident, told AFP from behind the wheel of his car.”Iran must destroy him, it must do something.”– ‘If God wills it’ –Friday’s attacks came after more than a year of soaring tensions as Israel took on Iran’s regional allies Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen.Amid the tensions, Israel and Iran exchanged aerial barrages on two separate occasions last year. while stopping short of a full-scale war. But following Friday’s attack, all bets were off over what would come next, with Khamenei warning Israel faced a “bitter and painful” fate, while the Iranian military said there would be “no limits” to its response.Apart from scattered protests, Tehran’s streets were largely deserted, except for queues at petrol stations, a familiar sight in times of crisis.Air traffic was halted at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport amid disruption across the region.In the upscale district of Nobonyad in north Tehran, rescuers continued to comb through the rubble of two apartment blocks targeted in Israeli strikes. Families with tear-streaked faces gathered nearby.”They want to deprive us of our nuclear capability — that’s unacceptable,” said Ahmad Razaghi, 56, calmly echoing the official line.For Farnoush Rezaei, a 45-year-old nurse wearing a colourful hijab, Friday’s attacks represented a final act by Israel — a country “on its last breath”.Iranian leaders have for decades insisted that Israel will “soon” disappear. “If God wills it, at least a bit of peace will come from this,” said Rezaei.

Airlines in the Gulf cancelled flights to many Middle East destinations on Friday as some governments closed their airspace following Israeli strikes on Iran.Emirates, the Middle East’s largest airline, said it had cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran after Israel launched the strikes.Several flights scheduled for Friday and one Tehran flight on Saturday were listed as cancelled on the airline’s website.Qatar Airways, the country’s national carrier and one of the Middle East’s largest, said it had “temporarily cancelled flights to Iran and Iraq due to (the) current situation in the region”.UAE airports warned of disruption, with Dubai posting on X that “some flights at @DXB and DWC – Al Maktoum International have been cancelled or delayed due to airspace closures over Iran, Iraq, and Syria”.Abu Dhabi airport warned “flight disruptions are expected through today (Friday)” as a result of the Israeli strikes.Kuwait’s civil aviation authority posted on X that “some flights at Kuwait International Airport have been diverted, cancelled and rescheduled.”Earlier Friday, Jordan and Iraq, which both lie between Israel and Iran, announced they had closed their airspace and grounded all flights after Israel’s strikes.Jordan’s military said it intercepted drones and missiles that had violated the kingdom’s airspace, after Iran vowed there would be “no limits” in its response to Israeli attacks.Israel pounded Iran with a wave of strikes against military and nuclear industry targets that killed the armed forces’ chief of staff, the Revolutionary Guards chief and top nuclear scientists.The Israeli military said Iran had launched about 100 drones in retaliation, which it was seeking to shoot down.

US President Donald Trump implored Israel on Thursday not to attack Iran and declared, once again, his goal was to be a peacemaker.Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — one of Trump’s closest international allies — brazenly defied his advice by unleashing a major military campaign described as a “preemptive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program.The attack marks the latest setback for Trump’s lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a “man of peace.”Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump has also boasted a warm relationship, has rebuffed his overtures for a ceasefire with Ukraine.And Israel resumed another massive offensive in Gaza after talks bogged down on extending a ceasefire with Hamas reached with Trump’s support at the end of his predecessor Joe Biden’s term.Trump’s friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff — who has negotiated in all three crises — had been set to meet Iranian officials again Sunday in Oman.Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear in a statement the United States was not involved in attacking Iran and warned Tehran not to retaliate against US troops in the region.Hours later, Fox News reported that Trump had said he was aware Israel was going to conduct strikes on Iran before it happened, and that he hoped negotiations could still happen. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Trump said, according to Fox News, which added that Trump also said “the US is ready to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates.”The president will hold a meeting with the National Security Council on Friday morning. – ‘It would blow it’ -Before Israel launched its operation, Trump said: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”He doubled down with a social media post saying he remained “committed to a diplomatic resolution” on Iran.Netanyahu has described Iran’s cleric-run government, which backs Hamas, as an existential threat and already last year ordered strikes that knocked out its air defenses.”We’ve clearly seen a fork in the road in the American and Israeli approaches to this problem set,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official who is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.”These strikes are going to disrupt and delay and degrade Iran’s nuclear program. The question, I think, is whether or not the United States and Israel in the future are going to work together on what to do to maximize the time that’s put back on the clock,” she said.Stroul noted that rifts had been building between Israel and Trump, who last month agreed to remove sanctions on Syria after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa swept into power.Trump embraced the new Syrian leader after appeals on a tour of Gulf Arab monarchies — which have also backed diplomacy on Iran.In Qatar last month, Trump said after meeting the emir that he believed a deal was in sight with Iran and that there would be no “nuclear dust” over the region.- ‘Reckless escalation’ – Despite growing disagreements, Israel enjoys robust support in Trump’s right-wing base.The Trump administration in recent days has again taken lonely positions to back Israel, with the United States casting one of the only votes at the UN General Assembly against a Gaza ceasefire resolution and criticizing top allies, including Britain, for imposing sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers.Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the Israeli attack will “destroy US diplomatic efforts” on Iran and called for Trump to reject any US military role in protecting Israel from retaliation.”Israel has the right to choose its own foreign policy. At the same time, it has the responsibility to bear the costs of that policy,” he said.But lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party quickly rallied behind Israel. Senator Tom Cotton said that the United States should “back Israel to the hilt, all the way,” and topple Iran’s Islamic Republic if it targets US troops.Trump’s Democratic rivals, who mostly backed his diplomacy on Iran, were aghast at Israel’s action ahead of new US-Iran talks.”Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” said Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran Friday, was a veteran officer close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei known for his tirades against Israel and its US ally.”If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you,” the white-beared general warned Tehran’s arch foes during a tour of an underground missile base in January.Born in 1960 in central Iran, Salami joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1980 at the start of the devastating eight-year war launched by then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.He spent most of his career in the Guards, a parallel military set up after the 1979 overthrow of the Western-backed shah to defend the goals of the Islamic revolution.The force is now 125,000-strong strong, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, although Iran has never released any official figure.Salami rose through the ranks to become head of the Guards’ aerospace division, and was placed on Washington’s sanctions blacklist.He served as the corps’ deputy commander for nine years before being promoted to the top job in 2019 as part of a major reshuffle.Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of Tehran’s foreign policy and Salami repeatedly alluded to calls for Israel to be wiped from the map.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should “learn to swim in the Mediterranean Sea” in readiness to flee, he said in a 2018 speech.The Revolutionary Guards played a central role in Iran’s forward foreign policy in the Arab world, which saw Tehran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah lead Gaza and Lebanon into war with Israel.The twin conflicts were accompanied by the first-ever direct exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel last year and were to lead to the much bigger wave of Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday, one of which killed Salami.

Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets including Tehran’s nuclear and military sites, and killing the armed forces’ chief of staff, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and top nuclear scientists.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel it faced a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks.The Israeli military said later that Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel in response and that its air defences were intercepting them outside Israeli territory.US President Donald Trump told Fox News he had advance notice of the Israeli strikes which Israel’s military said involved 200 fighter jets. Trump also stressed that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb”.The United States underlined that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Tehran not to attack its personnel or interests.But Tehran said the United States would be “responsible for consequences” as Israel’s operation “cannot have been carried out without the coordination and permission of the United States”.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, taking aim at the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists.The strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”, the Israeli leader said, adding later that the initial wave of strikes were “very successful”.The Israeli military said its intelligence gathering showed Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.State media said residential buildings in Tehran were hit as well, killing a number of civilians including women and children.Tasnim news agency said six nuclear scientists killed in the attacks.- Flights suspended -Air traffic was halted at Tehran’s main gateway, Imam Khomeini International Airport, while Iraq and Jordan also closed their airspace and suspended flights.Israel declared a state of emergency and closed its airspace, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying Israel was braced for Iran’s expected retaliation.”Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Katz said.An Israeli military official said the army believed Iran had the ability to strike Israel “any minute”.Oil prices surged 12 percent while stocks sank on the Israeli strikes, which came after Trump’s warning of a “massive conflict” in the region.Trump had also said the United States was drawing down staff in the Middle East, after Iran threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.Trump said he believed a “pretty good” deal on Iran’s nuclear programme was “fairly close”, but said that an Israeli attack on its arch foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.The US leader did not disclose the details of a conversation on Monday with Netanyahu, but said: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it.”Trump quickly added: “Might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”- ‘Within reach’ -US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran not respond to Israeli strikes by hitting US bases, saying Washington was not involved.”Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” Rubio said in a statement.Prior to Friday’s attack, Iran had threatened to hit US bases in the Middle East if conflict were to erupt.With the violence raising questions on whether a sixth round of talks planned between the US and Iran will still take place on Sunday in Oman, Trump said however that Washington is still “hoping to get back to the negotiating table”.Confirming Natanz among targets, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said it was “closely monitoring” the situation.”The agency is in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels. We are also in contact with our inspectors in the country,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said.- ‘Extremist’ -Israel, which counts on US military and diplomatic support, sees Iran as an existential threat.Netanyahu has vowed less restraint since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, which triggered the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza.Since the Hamas attack, Iran and Israel have traded direct attacks for the first time.Aside from Hamas, Israel is also battling Iranian proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen.The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it has repeatedly denied.Israel again called for global action after the IAEA accused Iran on Wednesday of non-compliance with its obligations.Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, slammed the resolution as “extremist”.In response, Iran said it would launch a new enrichment centre in a secure location.”The world now better understands Iran’s insistence on the right to enrichment, nuclear technology, and missile power,” the Iranian government said following the strikes.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close, though still short, of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.