Six Iranian nuclear scientists were killed early Friday in Israeli airstrikes that shattered Tehran’s defenses and jolted the region closer to a full-scale war, as Israel claimed the assault struck at the heart of a covert atomic weapons program.
The strikes, confirmed by Iranian state media, targeted multiple nuclear and military facilities in and around the capital, with footage showing smoke billowing from damaged compounds.
Among the dead were senior scientists Iran had long shielded from international scrutiny – now turned into symbols of a shadow war Israel says it could no longer contain.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed “severe punishment,” as shock rippled through Tehran.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported not only the scientists’ deaths but also the loss of top military commanders.
