Video: Israel hits missile launchers, air defenses in Iran

US President Donald Trump monitored developments overnight surrounding US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran at Mar-a-Lago with members of his national security team, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X on Saturday.

Leavitt confirmed that Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said Trump and his national security team would continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day.

“Prior to the attacks, Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional notification, and he was able to reach and brief seven of the eight members,” Leavitt said.

About 200 Israeli fighter jets carried out the largest strike mission in the history of Israel’s air force, hitting missile and air-defense systems in western and central Iran, Israel’s military spokesperson said on Saturday.

The spokesperson said the operation, directed by military intelligence and the air force, involved hundreds of munitions dropped on nearly 500 targets, including air-defense batteries and missile launchers.

He said the attacks were intended to expand Israel’s air superiority over Iran and damage key offensive capability, including launch sites in western Iran.

The spokesperson said one of the sites struck was in the Tabriz area and was used by a surface-to-surface missile unit that planned to fire dozens of missiles toward Israel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that fast-moving events in the Middle East and Gulf region underscored the dangers of Iran’s alignment with Russia, accusing Tehran of supplying Moscow with Shahed attack drones and related technology used against Ukraine.

“Events in the Middle East and the Gulf region are developing rapidly. Unfortunately, Ukraine knows well what this looks like,” Zelenskyy said in a Persian post on X. “Although Ukrainians have never threatened Iran, the Iranian regime decided to be Putin’s accomplice and provide him with ‘Shahed’ — not only drones, but also the technology. Iran has also provided other weapons to Russia.”

Zelenskyy said Russia had used more than 57,000 Shahed drones during the war, targeting civilians, cities and energy infrastructure, and argued it was fair for Iranians to be given a chance to rid themselves of “a terrorist regime.”

He said saving lives, preventing the war from spreading, and decisive US action were essential, adding that “whenever the United States is determined, global criminals are weakened.”

He said Ukraine was ready to help any nation improve security and justice and reduce what he called terrorist regimes.

Iran formally requested an urgent special session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, following attacks by the United States and Israel against its nuclear facilities on Saturday.

In a letter from its mission in Vienna, Iran said the strikes constituted a “flagrant violation” of the UN Charter, the IAEA statute and international law protecting safeguarded nuclear facilities. The letter said the attacks followed months of threats from senior US and Israeli officials against Iran’s nuclear program.

Tehran also accused US officials of publicly threatening further military action and urged the IAEA chief to immediately convene a special session so member states could address ongoing attacks.

Saudi Arabia confirmed it was targeted in an Iranian missile strike earlier on Saturday, and that it repelled attacks on the capital Riyadh and on eastern regions of the country.

The Saudi foreign ministry said the kingdom reserves the right to respond after what it described as “aggressive and unjustifiable” Iranian attacks targeting the Riyadh region, the Eastern Province and Jazan, which it said were successfully intercepted.

In a statement, the ministry expressed strong condemnation and denunciation of the strikes, saying they “cannot be justified or accepted under any pretext.”

Riyadh added that it had previously informed Iranian authorities that it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran, underscoring its position despite the latest escalation.