The retaliatory strikes came on Saturday, a day after Israel killed top Iranian military leaders and scientists and destroyed an aboveground nuclear enrichment plant near Natanz.

Israel says preemptive airstrikes against Iran's nuclear sites are underway, and it is bracing to intercept a wave of drones launched by Iran in retaliation.

Drone footage shows damage from an Iranian strike on a neighborhood in Rishon Lezion, Israel. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Iranian state media claims air defenses shot down Israeli Harop and Harpy drones over Tehran. Footage aired showed wreckage as explosions lit up the skies over the capital. Air defences were also activated in Bandar Abbas amid Israeli strikes on key sites.

Each drone carries 40-50 kg of explosives and could take up to 10 hours to reach Israel. Despite their slow speed, the sheer volume has raised alarms across the region, triggering air defenses and fears of a wider war.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in retaliation for Israel’s biggest ever attacks on Iran, blasting Iran’s huge underground nuclear site at Natanz an

Advanced espionage techniques made the most of Iranian vulnerabilities, but Israel’s ultimate aims may still be out of reach.

An Israeli drone has struck a refinery in Iran’s South Pars gas field Saturday, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported. If confirmed, it would mark the first Israeli attack on Iran’s oil and natural gas industry.