Senate Republican backs Israeli attack '100%'

An Israeli official told Iran International that Israel carried out a complex and multi-phase operation that successfully thwarted the launch of hundreds of Iranian ground-to-ground missiles aimed at Israeli territory.

An Israeli official told Iran International that Israel carried out a complex and multi-phase operation that successfully thwarted the launch of hundreds of Iranian ground-to-ground missiles aimed at Israeli territory.

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“Iran can either sign an agreement or face ongoing attacks that will endanger the stability of its regime,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“Iran deceived the United States during the negotiations and tried to buy time while continuing uranium enrichment,” the official added. “Had Iran entered the negotiations with sincere intentions, Israel would not have attacked.”

The comments appear to reflect a hardening of Israel’s stance toward Tehran after it had mostly focused its military blows on Iran's armed allies in the region but stopped short of signaling all-out war on the Islamic Republic.

“The strategy toward Iran will resemble the strategy used in Lebanon — the threat must not be allowed to materialize,” the source stated.

According to the official, the recent strikes have left Iran’s military apparatus in disarray. “The Iranians are currently in shock, their military leadership is virtually non-existent,” he claimed. “And more surprises are yet to come.”

Despite the intensity of the conflict, the source insisted that Israel’s actions are aimed at the Iranian establishment and not its people.

“Israel is not targeting the Iranian people but the Iranian regime,” he said. “The Iranian nation, with its proud history, deserves leadership that provides electricity and water — not one that spends the budget on global terrorism.”

Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been killed in the Israeli airstrikes, multiple informed sources confirmed to Iran International.

"Homes of senior military and political officials were targeted in Israeli airstrikes in Tehran," a senior Israeli political official told Iran International, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Civilians are not the intended targets," the official added.

Iran International was the first media outlet to publish official confirmation of the Israeli attack on Iran and its targets.

State news outlet IRNA reported that Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with another top commander and two senior nuclear officials were killed.

Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was seriously wounded during an attack on his residence and has been transferred to a hospital in Tehran in critical condition, Nour News, a media outlet close to the Supreme National Security Council reported.

Khamenei is alive and being briefed on the situation following Israel's attack on Iran, Reuters reported citing a security source.

"Homes of senior military and political officials were targeted in Israeli airstrikes in Tehran," a senior Israeli political official told Iran International, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Civilians are not the intended targets," the official added.