Iran responds to Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles
Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, in direct retaliation after Tel Aviv launched airstrikes targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities and military command.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•14/06/2025
Eighteen hours after Israel launched Operation Lion Rising against Iran, striking its nuclear facilities and missile sites, killing many of its top military leaders and nuclear scientists, Tehran launched a devastating retaliatory attack. Photo: @Leo Correa. Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes on Israel with around 100 ballistic missiles, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the country's two largest cities, according to Israeli media. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel as authorities urged residents to seek shelter. Photo: @Leo Correa.
In the first round, Iran fired about 100 ballistic missiles in two salvos. The US military helped shoot down the Iranian missiles headed toward Israel, two US officials said. Some of the ballistic missiles made it past Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, causing damage and injuries, although the extent of the damage remains unclear. Israel’s Channel 12 reported two people were seriously injured, eight were moderately injured and 34 suffered minor shrapnel injuries. Photo: @Tomer Neuberg. Several buildings were hit, including an apartment building in the Ramat Gan neighborhood near Tel Aviv. Another building in central Tel Aviv was also hit, causing significant damage to multiple floors. Photo: @Tomer Appelbaum. Iran's state news agency IRNA said it had launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel destroyed Iran's massive underground nuclear facility in Natanz. Photo: @/Ohad Zwigenberg. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted Israeli military centers and air bases with ballistic missile attacks. Photo: @/Tomer Neuberg.
“Using ballistic missiles with a combination of intelligent and precision-guided systems, Iran targeted military centers and air bases that were the source of criminal aggression against our country,” the IRGC said in a statement. Photo: @Mahmoud Illean. According to Breakingdefense, ballistic missiles are Iran’s most powerful means of retaliating against Israel. To reach Israel from Iran, you need a missile with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, also known as a Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM). Iran has a variety of missiles, including liquid-fueled missiles like the Ghadr and Khorramshahr, but also advanced solid-fueled ballistic missiles. Photo: @Morteza Nikoubazl. Some of these missiles, such as the Kheibar Shekan, are equipped with maneuverable re-entry vehicles with control fins and satellite navigation, to increase accuracy. Iran claims to have developed a variant of the Kheibar Shekan, called the Fattah, that can fly on a hypersonic trajectory through the atmosphere, which would make interception much more difficult. Photo: @Morteza Nikoubazl.
In addition to these Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs), Iran also has a large arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs, with ranges of 300 to 1,000 km). Some of these (based on the Soviet Scud) are liquid-fueled, but most are solid-fueled. Many are also equipped with control fins and satellite navigation systems. Photo: @Morteza Nikoubazl. Iran claimed it had attacked Israeli military industrial centers used to produce missiles and other military equipment, adding: "Field reports, satellite imagery and intelligence indicate that dozens of ballistic missiles effectively struck strategic targets." Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran had "crossed a red line" by firing missiles at civilian centers and vowed to "pay a very heavy price" for its actions. Photo: @Ohad Zwigenberg. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of starting the war. A senior Iranian official said no place in Israel was safe and retaliation would be painful. Photo: @Tomer Appelbaum.
Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Iran and more than 320 were injured, most of them civilians. Among those killed were Iran's three top military leaders: the man who oversees all of the armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri; the commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Photo: @/Tomer Appelbaum.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•14/06/2025
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