Iranian MP says sixth round of US talks likely off after Israeli strikes

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on its official X account on Friday that Israel had eliminated three high-ranking Iranian military figures—including the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, the Commander of the IRGC, and the head of Iran’s Emergency Command—in "strikes across Iran by more than 200 fighter jets."

“We can now confirm that... these are three ruthless mass murderers with international blood on their hands. The world is a better place without them,” the IDF said in its post.

“Iranian authorities have informed the IAEA that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has not been targeted and that no increase in radiation levels has been observed at the Natanz site,” the IAEA official account wrote on x.

The Iranian government on Friday said it has initiated “defensive, political, and legal” measures following overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted sites in Tehran and killed several individuals, including senior military and nuclear figures.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has begun the necessary defensive, political, and legal measures to make the illegitimate Israel regret its actions,” the government said in a statement.

It described the strikes as “a violation of national sovereignty” and accused Israel of acting “outside all international norms.”

Iran said the attacks, which came amid diplomatic engagement over Tehran’s nuclear program, revealed “the regime’s fear of Iran’s ability to defend and convince the world.”

While reiterating that Iran has not initiated war in over two centuries, the statement asserted: “We consider retaliation and defense to be our legitimate right.”

It added that Israel’s actions had erased any distinction between the Iranian government and its people in Tel Aviv’s targeting, and that the response would be united.

Iran called on the United Nations Security Council to respond, but noted it would not “wait on international bodies.”