President Donald Trump on Friday hailed Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran as “excellent” and warned Tehran to return to stalled nuclear talks, hours after Israeli warplanes hit more than 100 targets, including the Natanz enrichment plant, missile factories and senior commanders.
“We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. There’s more to come,” Trump said in a taped ABC interview, adding on his Truth Social account that Iran was now on “day 61” of a missed 60-day ultimatum to curb its program.
Heavy casualties, threatened reprisals
Iran confirmed the deaths of armed-forces chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh and six nuclear scientists. President Masoud Pezeshkian called for national unity and vowed a response “that will make Israel regret its foolish act.”
Israel said the first phase of Operation Rising Lion involved 200 fighter jets and could stretch on “for days.” Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin claimed “significant damage” at Natanz and the destruction of dozens of radar and surface-to-air batteries.
Iran launched roughly 100 drones toward Israel in retaliation; by mid-morning the Home Front Command lifted shelter orders, saying most had been shot down.
Markets shudder, airlines divert
Brent crude spiked nearly 8 percent before easing, while major carriers rerouted or canceled flights over Israel, Iran, Iraq and Jordan. Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport shut as Israeli airlines moved planes abroad. Dubai-based Emirates suspended routes to several regional capitals after Iran closed its airspace.
Diplomatic fallout
Washington insisted it had no role in the raids. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel acted “unilaterally in self-defense,” though Iran’s military accused the United States of providing support. Jordan’s foreign minister condemned the strikes as an illegal escalation, and the U.N. nuclear watchdog declared Iran in breach of its safeguards for the first time in two decades.
Despite the violence, U.S. and Iranian negotiators are still scheduled to resume indirect talks in Oman on Sunday, though diplomats say prospects for a breakthrough have dimmed.
Trump, meanwhile, convened his National Security Council and renewed his warning: “Iran must make a deal before there is nothing left.”
