Tehran residents were left reeling after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted residential areas, killing at least six nuclear scientists and physicists, including a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The attacks, which came in multiple waves, also claimed the lives of several top military commanders, including the armed forces chief-of-staff Mohammad Bagheri and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Hossein Salami.
Roya, a 62-year-old resident of Tehran’s Marzdaran neighborhood, described the terrifying experience: “It was absolutely terrifying, my heart was beating out of my chest. I saw smoke on the horizon and at first thought all the strikes were farther away, but when the images came out, I found that a home just a few streets from us was hit too.” The building near her house was among many residential units targeted by Israeli warplanes.
The strikes have sparked widespread fear and shock in Tehran, with many residents grappling with the unprecedented attacks on heavily populated residential areas. Ali Shamkhani, a former security chief and top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was badly wounded after his home in northern Tehran was bombed. Some family members of the officials and scientists were killed alongside them.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has condemned the attacks, with Director-General Rafael Grossi stating that the agency is opposed to any attacks on nuclear facilities. Iran’s diplomats and nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami blasted the IAEA for refusing to forcefully condemn repeated Israeli and US threats of air strikes.
US President Donald Trump acknowledged that he was aware of the strikes but said Washington provided no military backing. He urged Tehran to come back to the negotiating table and make concessions, despite the attacks coming just two days before Iran and the US were slated to hold nuclear negotiations in Muscat.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed to take revenge, warning that Israel faces a “bitter and painful” fate following the attack. State-backed demonstrations sprang up in Tehran and across the country to condemn the deadly strikes. Journalist Fatemeh Kalantari tweeted about her friend Najmeh, who was killed in the attacks: “She was no military personnel, nuclear figure, or an official. She was just a girl who loved cycling and nature. She was my friend, her name was Najmeh”.
The attacks have also led to temporary internet restrictions and the cancellation of art events and music concerts in Iran. With residential areas heavily bombed and some buildings catching fire, authorities said a number of civilians, including children, were among those brutally killed.