Damage in Iran’s capital Tehran from Israeli airstrikes, June 13, 2025 (DW)

Originally published by The Guardian:

EA on France 24: Trump’s Blank Check for Israel’s Strikes on Iran

Israel’s Strikes Decimate Iran’s Military Command

UPDATE, JUNE 15:

In a follow-up report for The Guardian, Deepa Parent speaks with an Iranian woman watching the Israeli attacks:

Sahar and her family decided to take a stroll in one of Tehran’s parks on Friday night, the eve of Eid al-Ghadir, a major Shia holiday. But, instead of the usual festive fireworks, the sky was lit up by bright red anti-aircraft missiles streaking across the horizon.

“Seeing Iranian missiles over your heads worries you, you worry what’s going to come next. Will it be a war, destruction?” said Sahar over the phone.

Sahar says of the Iranian response with missiles fired on Israeli towns and cities: “Many people are celebrating and happy for Iran’s retaliation to Israeli aggression and are asking that Israel be taught a lesson. People in Iran hate Israel as we know it’s a mad country ruining the region.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY, JUNE 14: As dawn broke over Tehran, firefighters and other rescue workers saw for the first time the full extent of the damage done by overnight Israeli strikes.

Among the first locations reached by responders in the capital was a 12-story block of flats looming above a road junction and a shopping mall in the northern suburbs. A huge blast at around 4am had gutted two upper levels, showering debris into the street below.

It soon became clear why this particular floor on this particular block had been selected by Israeli military planners. It was the home of Ali Shamkhani, one of the country’s most senior security officials and a close aide of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Initial reports said Shamkhani, who is also a key negotiator in ongoing indirect talks with the US over Iran’s nuclear programme, was injured. But by mid-morning it was announced that the 69-year- old advisor had been killed.

By then, it was clear that Israel’s attack was on a much greater scale than anyone had previously envisaged. Dozens of other targets in and around Tehran had been hit by warplanes. Across the capital, buildings were burning, with gaping blackened holes where flats had existed hours before.

Other top officials had been killed in this first wave of strikes, including Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, and Maj, Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who died in an attack on the IRGC’s headquarters.

Other casualties included officials in charge of Iran’s nuclear programme and its ballistic missile arsenal, including two well-known scientists. There were reports of further deaths and injuries, possibly among members of the dead men’s families, though no confirmed numbers.

“Total Chaos”

Golnar, a resident of Saadat Abad, northern Tehran, was asleep when blasts woke her just after 3 a.m.

“I woke up to the first explosion and rushed to the windows to check. Then minutes later I heard four explosions back to back … The windows were shaking and people in the building started screaming,” Golnar told the Guardian.

A human rights activist living near Shahr Ara Street in Tehran described “total chaos in the residential areas”.

“Traffic jams and clueless crowds are still trying to make sense of what’s happening,” they said. “Smoke is still billowing from residential streets and there’s debris around homes. The sky is red and we fear there will be more attacks,” they said.

“Where Do We Flee?”

Elsewhere in Iran, people were also waking up to destruction.

Drivers could see plumes of oily black smoke pouring from the major nuclear facility of Natanz, 200 miles south of Tehran. Residents of the north-western city of Tabriz ran for shelter as several targets were hit. Others cowered as missiles slammed into a suspected nuclear site in the central city of Arak and amid blasts at air defence missile bases in Kermanshah, close to the border with Iraq.

There were strikes in Hamadan province, where a long-range radar facility appeared to have been badly damaged; and at Piranshahr, in West Azerbaijan Province, a launch site for ballistic missiles was hit.

For many Iranians, often unaware they are living next to critical military or nuclear infrastructure, the attacks prompted great fear. Among those opposed to the regime, the attacks prompted excitement, even jubilation.

An emergency unit doctor in Tehran said mid-morning that no civilian casualties had been brought into his hospital so far.

Some of us in the emergency units have to cancel any planned leaves, and hospitals have been put on high alert. My elderly father woke up to loud explosions in western Tehran. He called me with a trembling voice, and for the past six months we have lived in fear that tensions will escalate.

Israel has said the attacks were just the opening salvo of a much broader offensive, which could continues for days, or even weeks.

“We are already dealing with a dire economic crisis,” the human rights activist said. “We are stocking up on food and supplies which are already expensive. Where do we even flee to if attacked again today? We don’t have bomb shelters like the Israelis do and we can’t flee to Iraq or Afghanistan. We are stuck.”

Azadeh, a resident of Vanak, said everyday Iranians had not asked for this war.

Around 3:40 a.m,, the explosion sounds started getting louder and louder. It got very frightening. There were loud screams across the streets. The explosion was near the main square which is scary.

However, [after] the news that IRGC commanders were killed and not civilians, some of us are happy about it. The mullahs are responsible for any civilian deaths that may occur this time.

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