Iran Calls Israel Strikes a ‘Declaration of War’

Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of Iran, has called the latest airstrikes carried out by Israel a “declaration of war,” with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning that Israel would face a “severe punishment” over the attacks after state media confirmed top Iranian military officials and scientists had been killed in the strikes.

Knewz.com has learned that the nation has already begun to replace the fallen military officials with temporary appointments.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out massive air strikes on Iran early morning on Friday, June 13, targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

The pre-dawn airstrikes, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marked the most significant Israeli military action against Iran to date and were aimed at “rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

“In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponise this enriched uranium, and if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year. That is why we have no choice but to act and act now. The hardest decision any leader has to make is sworn in danger before it is fully materialised,” Netanyahu said in his statement.

According to military sources in Israel, more than 200 fighter jets participated in the coordinated attacks, striking over 100 strategic sites across Iran—including nuclear enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, missile production plants, and headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iranian state media reported that power had been lost to several facilities and that at least 90 people were killed, including top military personnel. A further 300 were reportedly injured.

It has been reported that Major General Hossein Salami, the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and one of the most powerful men in Iran, has been killed in the overnight Israeli strike.

It is worth noting that Major General Salami was at the helm of the IRGC when Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in April and October 2024, per reports.

In addition, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Ali Shamkhani, a close aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Air Force, were also killed in the attack, dealing a massive blow to Tehran.

According to reports, Hajizadeh headed the country’s missile program and was the mastermind of Iran’s previous attack on Israel in April 2024 as well as the missile attack on a US base in Iraq in 2020.

Following the calls for retaliation, Iran has swiftly moved to appoint new military heads.

“As of Friday morning, Ahmad Vahidi was appointed to temporarily replace Salami, while Habibollah Sayyari will fill in for Bagheri,” reports have mentioned.

It has been further reported that Vahidi previously held the roles of Iran’s defense minister and interior minister and once led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Quds Force (QF) from 1988 to 1998.

Sayyari, who has been appointed as the new chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, is a former marine who led Iran’s navy from 2007 to 2017.

It is worth noting that the Iranian Foreign Ministry also alleged the United States‘ “coordination and approval” of the early morning airstrikes in a statement, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio trying to distance Washington from the attack.

“[Israel’s] aggression against Iran could not have been carried out without the coordination and approval of the United States… Consequently, the U.S. government, as the primary patron of this regime, will also bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist regime’s reckless actions,” the Foreign Ministry of Iran said in their statement, according to reports.

It is worth noting that in retaliation against Israel, Iran unleashed a barrage of over 150 ballistic missiles and 100 drones toward Israeli targets later on Friday, triggering nationwide air raid alerts. However, the IDF reported that Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow defense systems intercepted the vast majority of incoming projectiles.

According to an anonymous United States official, U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were also helping to shoot down Iranian missiles.

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