Good morning. After threatening to do so for decades, Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran, which hit “dozens” of targets including its nuclear facilities, military commanders and scientists. Israel claimed it took this unilateral action because Tehran had begun to build nuclear warheads.
Iran responded by launching 100 drones towards Israel. The region now stands at a precipice of a catastrophic, all out war.
Iranian state media reported that Revolutionary Guard leader Hossein Salami had been killed, along with two scientists identified as Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
It looks like the strikes hit the individuals in their own homes, with Iranian state media reporting that at least one of the airstrikes, on a residential area in Tehran, killed children.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the operation, called Rising Lion is meant to push back against the threat Iran poses to Israel’s existence. He also mentioned that the mission is expected to last several days.
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme,” Netanyahu said in a recorded televised address. “We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponisation programme. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.”
Following the strikes, the US moved quickly to distance itself from Israel. US president Donald Trump said that the US were aware the strikes were happening, but was not involved and hoped Iran would return to the negotiating table. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Trump said, an apparent reference to the Iranian officials killed in today’s attacks.
The strikes were strongly condemned by Japan, Saudi Arabia, while New Zealand, Australia, and the UK expressed concern and called for maximum restraint among all parties.
Why has Israel decided to take this action now and how will Iran respond? I spoke to Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, who is currently in Jerusalem. That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
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India | Teams of sniffer dogs have combed the wreckage of Air India Flight 171, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, killing at least 265 people on board. One man, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, miraculously survived.
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UK politics | Rachel Reeves is a “gnat’s whisker” away from raising taxes this autumn, the director of Institute for Fiscal Studies, Paul Johnson, says.
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Northern Ireland | DUP minister Gordon Lyons has rejected calls to resign after social media posts claiming people who fled Ballymena were housed in a leisure centre in Larne, which was set on fire.
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Bangladesh | British property belonging to former land minister of Bangladesh worth £170m has been frozen by the National Crime Agency amid a crackdown on allies of Sheikh Hasina.
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Environment | Yorkshire has entered a drought after the county recorded its driest spring in 132 years.
In depth: What we know so far
Explosions were reported in Tehran around 3:30am local time, hitting what appeared to be the Revolutionary Guards’ command centre. Not long after, at about 4:15am, another strike targeted the Natanz nuclear site, where thick black smoke was seen on TV rising from the area.
Iranian state media reports that the strikes on Tehran killed five people and injured 20. Separately, state TV said that at least 50 people, including women and children, have been wounded nationwide.
Iran’s oil ministry has said that Friday’s deadly Israeli strikes did not hit any major refineries or fuel depots. In a statement, it confirmed that all facilities are operating normally and fuel supply across the country has not been disrupted.
Two Israeli officials have told Reuters that the country is bracing for an Iranian response in the coming hours. Israel’s defence Minister Israel Katz declared an emergency situation across the country due to Israel’s strikes in Iran.
He warned that a missile and drone attack on Israeli civilians was likely to happen soon, and said he has signed “a special order, according to which a special state of emergency will be imposed on the home front throughout the entire State of Israel”.
Later, in comments that suggest the operation could be long and difficult, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israeli citizens may have to remain in sheltered areas for lengthy periods of time”.
What other actions did the Israelis take? “Israeli officials are saying that Mossad went in early to take actions that would undermine Iran’s ability to strike back. We don’t know exactly what that means, but it sounds like sabotage of missile infrastructure, possibly ballistic missiles.”
Why did Israel do this now?
Israel has been threatening to target Iran’s nuclear capabilities for decades. Now, it has finally launched its first strikes, but why act now?
Yesterday, a report came out from the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, criticising Iran for failing to meet its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. For the first time in 20 years, the IAEA board formally declared Iran in violation, showing growing frustration with Tehran’s lack of cooperation, Julian Borger explains.
“They’ve accumulated a significant stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, which is almost all the way to weapons grade … Netanyahu said in his speech today that Iran has enough for nine nuclear bombs. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know.”
The strikes come in the middle of US and Iranian talks aimed at reviving nuclear negotiations and easing regional tensions. In 2018, during his previous term, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), claiming it was flawed, and reimposed heavy sanctions on Tehran.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was quick to say the US wasn’t involved and warned Iran not to hit US targets, trying to distance themselves from Israel to avoid blowback,” Julian says.
“It seems Trump had a sense something might happen,” Julian adds, pointing to the recent US decision to withdraw some of its personnel from the Middle East over the past few days.
“Netanyahu’s taken a big gamble by doing it without US support. I think what he’s gambling on is that when Iran strikes back, Trump will have no choice but to step in again in Israel defence and help with the defensive shield like it did last October,” Julian tells me. “But it seems to me quite a big gamble to take.”
How will Iran respond?
Israeli media says Iran has sent around 100 drones toward Israel, and military officials have confirmed that work is underway to try to shoot them down.
Iran’s foreign ministry has said the US, as Israel’s main supporter, will be responsible for the consequences of “Israel’s adventurism”. In its statement, the ministry says the Israeli attack “exposes global security to unprecedented threat” and calls on the international community to condemn it.
“Iran said they were going to hit back very forcefully – that they would give a ‘forceful slap’. The question is: can they? The Israelis have hit a whole lot of their missile sites,” Julian says.
“When they launched a mass drone and ballistic and cruise missile attack in October last year, almost no one got hit. The only fatality was a Palestinian in the West Bank that was hit by falling debris. Israel’s middle defences and air defence proved to be effective. Iran was not aiming at the cities that time, and wasn’t using as many missiles as it could. They’re still taking a risk, some missiles could get through. And Netanhyhu has appealed for patience and resilience from Israel and is bracing them for the long haul.”
What have other countries in the region said?
“Jordan has said they’re closing their airspace and want no part in this. But in October, much of the Iranian attack flew over Jordan and was intercepted there. There’s not much they can actually do to prevent that,” Julian says.
“You’ve got to wonder what the Gulf Arab states really think. Some may feel Israel is doing them a favour by weakening Iran, while others may believe it’s reckless and will only provoke Iran to rebuild its arsenal and accelerate its nuclear programme.”
The big question now is whether these strikes have torpedoed the negotiations between the US and Iran, with the latter racing to build a nuclear bomb. “Many analysts thought Iran was hedging, by stockpiling enriched material without actually crossing the line. The conventional wisdom was that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hadn’t given the final directive, that final step to turn it into a weapon. That was the conventional wisdom.
“Now, Netanyahu, when he gave his TV address in the early hours of morning, made the claim that in recent months Iran has recently taken steps towards weaponisation. That’s a big claim and we don’t know if it’s true.”
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What else we’ve been reading
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In her action-packed new film, Julianne Moore plays a morally compromised ranch hand. She talks to Ryan Gilbey about sunburn, wine and hanging out of helicopters. Alex Needham, acting head of newsletters
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Friends and family of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have vocalised their concerns about the conditions of his long imprisonment. Fattah’s sister, Mona Seif said: “The idea was to crush his spirit.” Sundus
Sport
Football | Manchester United have completed the £62.5m signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves, with the forward intent on helping the club “back to the top”. The 26-year-old has a five-year contract with the option of a further year and will be paid about £150,000 a week.
US Open | Rory McIlroy endured a bruising finish to the opening round at Oakmont while JJ Spaun ended with a one-stroke lead over Thriston Lawrence.
Tennis | Wimbledon is set to increase its prize pot to £53.5m at the end of the month after complaints from leading tennis players, doubling the amount awarded 10 years ago.
The front pages
“At least 260 die as plane on way to UK crashes in India” – that’s the Guardian while the Times has “Crash leaves sole survivor”. “Miracle in seat 11A” says the Mirror while in the Mail it’s “I don’t know how I’m alive”. The Express goes with “Miracle of man in seat 11A who walked away”. The Telegraph also hails “The miracle of seat 11A” and the i paper’s version is “British man walks away from crash that kills hundreds”. Similar in the Metro: “Brit is only survivor of Flight 171” “More than 240 die as Air India flight crashes in Gujarat following take-off” – that’s the Financial Times.
Something for the weekend
Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now
TV
Mix Tape | ★★★★☆
The question “will they or won’t they?” permeates many romantic stories, and it is almost always answered with “they do eventually”. In the four-part Irish-Australian drama Mix Tape, that evergreen question is still there, more or less, but it has been deepened and expanded in interesting ways. I was moved by both story strands in Mix Tape, which really do feel like two sides of the same coin. At four episodes of roughly one hour apiece, the runtime felt just right: more than enough to truly get to know these people. I left wishing the best for them. Luke Buckmaster
Film
Deep Cover | ★★★☆☆
Producer and screenwriter Colin Trevorrow has co-created this amiable, high-concept action comedy about three hapless improv actors dragooned into going into deep cover to bust a drug ring. It’s entertaining, though I think some of the cast understand comedy better and more instinctively than others. Mohammed, Ashenden and Owen are the ones capable of relaxing more naturally into the comedy mode and delivering funny lines. There are some laughs and it’s always likable. Peter Bradshaw
Games
Mario Kart World | ★★★★★
God only knows how many hours I have spent racing Mario and his pals around their cartoon wonderland circuits since 1992 – this series has accompanied me through my entire life, the reliable mainstay that everyone wants to play with me, no matter how familiar they are with video games in general. Mario Kart World allows for all these playstyles and more, an easy-breezy social game that also lets you get extremely competitive. It really is an impressively welcoming game, generous, detailed and unfailingly fun. Keza MacDonald
Music
Haim: I Quit | ★★★★☆
The sisters’ fourth album has plenty of breakup songs, but these are no cheerful odes to dumping dudes in your 20s. Haim rake repeatedly over the same heartbreak to construct a candid, complex portrait of a woman working hard to psychologically liberate herself from a relationship, laying out obvious toxicity (“an innocent mistake turns into 17 days”, of conflict, presumably) and harm (“you really fucked with my confidence”), while entertaining the notion that maybe all relationships are like this: “Is it just the shit our parents did? And had to live with it.” As a process, it’s messy, a bit like this album – but ultimately worthwhile, also a bit like this album. Rachel Aroesti
Today in Focus
Donald Trump v Los Angeles
The US president called out the national guard and put marines on standby after protests against immigration raids began. Two Angelenos explain why the city won’t back down. Andrew Gumble reports
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
What began in the 1980s with Karachi’s elite tasting sushi at Fujiyama – the first Japanese restaurant in Pakistan – has blossomed into a nationwide obsession. Today, you can break your fast during Ramadan at a sushi buffet or host a small gathering in a Japanese restaurant. From chapli kebab maki rolls to seaweed pakoras, sushi has been lovingly adapted to local tastes.
Thanks to pioneers like Byram Avari, who brought home the trend after a trip to Hawaii, Pakistan’s sushi scene now thrives in both upmarket and budget-friendly spots, with chefs embracing locally sourced ingredients. Sanam Maher traces this culinary journey in a flavourful long read.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until Monday.
