LIVE FEED from Al Jazeera:
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Update2215ET: In a massive development via Iranian state sources, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major Gen. Hossein Salami has been killed in Israel’s major Israeli attack on Tehran and other locations in Iran. Al Jazeera: “Iran’s Tasnim news agency and Tehran Times newspaper say Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been killed in an Israeli strike.”
- IRAN’S IRGC CHIEF SALAMI KILLED IN ISRAELI ATTACKS: TASNIM
- IRAN PLANNING ‘DECISIVE RESPONSE’ TO ISRAELI ATTACK: IRNA
- Key uranium enrichment facility in central Iran ‘hit several times’: state TV
Just yesterday…
Meanwhile, some US Congressional members are not in the mood for another major war:
Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticizes the Israeli attacks on Iran and calls on Trump to push for de-escalation.
“Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” Reed in a statement.
“I urge both nations to show immediate restraint, and I call on President Trump and our international partners to press for diplomatic de-escalation before this crisis spirals further out of control.”
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Update (2115ET): Al Jazeera and regional media have reported at least six large explosions were observed in the Iranian capital of Tehran, as Israel confirms it has launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’ – which importantly Netanyahu in a televised address said “will continue for as many days” until the Iranian ‘nuclear threat’ is removed, and “as long as necessary”.
There are unconfirmed reports that Iranian jets have been scrambled and that the Islamic Republic’s inevitable retaliation has begun. Iran possesses an immense ballistic missile arsenal, many which can be launched from underground silos and deep below ground ‘missile cities’. Developing:
- ISRAEL BELIEVES IT KILLED SOME IRAN GENERALS, ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
- ISRAEL MILITARY OFFICIAL COMMENTS ON KILLINGS OF IRAN OFFICIALS
There are also reports of large blasts heard in Natanz city, home to a key nuclear site, according to Iranian state TV. Hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has issued a short tweet saying “Game on”.
Unconfirmed but likely…
Reports of Iranian air force jets taking off…
