by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – After already hitting Tehran and nuclear and military sites across Iran on Friday in attacks that reportedly killed scores of people, Israeli fighter jets returned to destroy Iran’s airport in Tabriz, video suggested.
Footage obtained by Worthy News from within Iran showed a series of fresh explosions around the Shahid Fakouri military base and Tabriz International Airport on Friday. Additional damage was reported along the nearby railway lines serving the airport.
Tabriz is the most significant economic hub and metropolitan area in northwest Iran.
It was part of a new wave of Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that killed at least two top military officers and raised the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries.
Iranian sources said 78 people were killed and 329 injured by Israel’s attacks on “residential areas” in Tehran. The figures could not be verified independently, and Israel has not confirmed the death toll.
Witnesses said it was likely the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.
The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. Hours later, Israel’s military said it had begun intercepting Iranian drones launched in retaliation.
OPERATION RISING LION
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that as part of “Operation Rising Lion,” Israel targeted Iran’s central enrichment facility in Natanz and the country’s ballistic missile program, while killing leaders
Among those killed was General Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Iranian state television reported. Additionally, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said other top military officials and scientists were also killed.
The attacks came despite U.S. President Donald J. Trump reportedly warning Netanyahu against launching an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities while diplomatic efforts were underway.
However, once the operation was underway, Trump urged Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S., saying attacks would otherwise be “even more brutal.”
Analysts were quick to say that the attack pushed the region into a new and uncertain phase: The deaths of top Iranian officials also marked a significant blow to Tehran’s governing Islamic leaders, who face an immediate escalation of the conflict with Israel.
In a sign that the armed conflict was turning into a broader conflict, residents of south Lebanon reported hearing explosions along the Lebanese-Israel border, and videos showed black smoke in what appeared to be the Israeli Iron Dome intercepting projectiles.
Israeli air raid sirens were also activated in the northern cities of Metula, Kafr Jalaadi, Kiryat Shimona, and seven other cities.
UNCLEAR PROJECTILES
It was unclear if the projectiles came from Lebanon or Iraq in the east. Videos showed pieces of intercepted drones falling from the sky on the Lebanese side of the border.
Hezbollah, while condemning the Israeli strikes against Iran, said it will not initiate an attack from its positions in Lebanon against Israel. Much of the Iranian-backed militia’s military capabilities were demolished after the 13-month war it fought with Israel, which ended in November 2024.
With clashes ongoing, many flights to Lebanon were cancelled, and some residents fled the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been a target of Israeli strikes in the past due to the presence of Hezbollah there.
Israel’s military said sirens also sounded in the country’s north on Friday, hours after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the sirens in several communities and areas near the border with Lebanon and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
With many Israelis hunkered down close to home in Tel Aviv, the city canceled its annual Pride Parade, which usually draws tens of thousands of people for a march and street party.
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub on the Mediterranean coast, shops were open, but the streets, beaches, and parks were mostly deserted.
WATER RUSH
Earlier Friday, many people had rushed to supermarkets to buy bottled water and other supplies.
With the world anticipating a broader war, stock markets worried about damage to the flow of crude worldwide and the global economy.
In New York, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% in early trading Friday and on track for its worst day in over two weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 423 points, or 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.8%.
The price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude jumped 7.3% as Iran is one of the world’s major oil producers.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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