Trump's attack on Iran draws Republican cheers, Democratic ire

"We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," Trump said on Saturday.

Trump had hinted at a potential intervention for days and US bunker-busting bombs are widely viewed as the only ordnance capable of penetrating the underground Fordow site.

"All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," he added in a post on Truth Social.

"All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!"

Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran last week which has drawn Iranian missile fire, and Trump mooted possible US involvement, urging Tehran to resolve its nuclear impasse with Washington through talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would not negotiate under fire but wanted to pursue diplomacy.

Tehran has repeatedly vowed to target the substantial US military presence in the region if it comes under direct attack.

"This is an historic moment for the United States of America, Israel, and the world. Iran must now agree to end this war," Trump added in another post.

B-2 bombers were used in the US attacks against Iran's nuclear facilities, Reuters reported citing a US official.

The US had informed Israel in advance about the attack on Iran and the matter was coordinated, Walla News reported citing a senior Israeli official.

Trump strikes

• Trump announced US attacks successfully attacked three main nuclear sites in Iran.
• “BOMBS dropped on all, mainly Fordow”, Trump announced.
• Trump said 6 huge MOAB-type bombs and missiles fired from submarines were used in the attacks, he was quoted by Fox News Host Sean Hannity.

Tension mounted ahead of attacks

• Trump had said earlier in the day that still prefers to solve the nuclear issue with Iran through diplomacy, according to US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
• Iran and the United States kept up their communication over the weekend, NBC news reported.
• Dozens of US military aircraft have been tracked flying toward the Middle East in recent days.

Israel kept military campaign on Iran, Plot foiled in Cyprus

• The nine-day Israeli military campaign has killed 865 people and wounded over 3,000, human rights group HRANA said.
• A new wave of Israeli airstrikes targeted cities across Iran—from Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, and Marvdasht in the south to Tabriz, Salmas and Babol in the north.
• The Israeli military says its air force has struck three F-14 fighter jets belonging to the Iranian Armed Forces in central Iran.
• Iran is targeting Israeli civilians both inside the country and abroad, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, after Cypriot authorities foiled a suspected Iranian-linked plot in Limassol.
• Hezbollah's late secretary general Hassan Nasrallah's longtime bodyguard Abu Ali al-Khalil was killed in an airstrike in Tehran.
• A video sent to Iran International shows significant damage to the cyber police (FATA) headquarters in Tehran, amid ongoing Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has named three senior clerics as possible successors in case he is killed in the war with Israel, names not revealed, his son Mojtaba is not among them.

Planned executions, German national arrested

• Iran must halt planned executions, Amnesty International warned of a surge in politically motivated death sentences following the escalation of hostilities with Israel.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested a German national, Marek Kaufmann, for alleged spying near restricted military and nuclear sites in Markazi province.
• Iran has denied that it reduced missile launches because of depleted stockpiles. Says the change reflects a new strategy focused on quality over quantity.
• Five members of Revolutionary Guards were killed in an Israeli strike on targets in Khorramabad, a city in the west of Iran.
• Saeed Izadi, commander of the Palestine Corps within Iran’s Quds Force, was killed in a strike on an apartment in Qom.

Israel escalated its military campaign against Iran, striking nuclear facilities and missile infrastructure while killing members of a military unit responsible for foreign operations, the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force

A new wave of Israeli airstrikes late Saturday targeted multiple cities across Iran—from Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz and Marvdasht in the south to Tabriz, Salmas and Babol in the north, Sanandaj and Kermanshah in the west and Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan in the center, according to eyewitnesses and media reports.

Iranian state media confirmed the deaths of five Revolutionary Guards members in Khorramabad and released the names of 15 air defense personnel killed in recent strikes.

Saeed Izadi, commander of the Quds Force’s Palestine Corps, was killed in a strike in Qom, Israeli defense minister said early Saturday. Israel Katz described Izadi as a key figure behind Hamas's October 7 attack and a central node in Iran’s funding of armed allies in the region.

Israel said it had also taken out senior Revolutionary Guards drone commander Aminpour Joudaki and Quds Force arms transfer chief Behnam Shahriari.

An attack in Tehran killed Iranian nuclear scientist Isar Tabatabaei Ghomsheh and his wife.

Hezbollah forces killed in Tehran

An Israeli airstrike in Tehran killed Abu Ali al-Khalil, who had served as slain Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s personal bodyguard for decades, Al Arabiya reported citing sources in the Lebanese group.

Al-Khalil's son was also killed in the attack, Palestinian news agency Quds News Network reported.

In addition to Al-Khalil, Haider al-Musawi, a senior member of the Iran-linked militia group Sayyid al-Shuhada, was killed in the airstrikes, according to Israel's Channel 12.

Among the locations hit were the Isfahan nuclear facility and a centrifuge production site within the same complex, which the Israeli military said is central to Iran’s nuclear weapons development.

Other targets included drone launch vehicles, missile infrastructure, radar installations, and air defense systems.

The Iranian government confirmed that the Isfahan site had been struck but reported no casualties or radiation leaks.

Explosions were also heard in many cities including Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Tehran, where the cyber police headquarters was severely damaged. Cyber police is known for its role in online surveillance and repression.

Iran in turn continued its retaliatory missile launches against Israel while imposing a near-total internet blackout which has effectively halted the flow of information.

Iranian missile impacts were reported in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Israel said its air defense systems successfully intercepted multiple incoming salvos.

US moves B-2 bombers

The Pentagon is deploying stealth B-2 bombers across the Pacific from their base in Missouri, officials cited by US media reported, signaling that the Trump administration is positioning them for a possible strike on Iran.

The aircraft are capable of carrying the 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker buster, which defense experts believe is the most likely conventional weapon to inflict damage on Iran’s fortified Fordow uranium enrichment site.

US President Donald Trump says he will make his decision about joining the Israeli war on Iran in two weeks to give diplomacy a last chance.

However, Israeli officials have told the United States they may not wait until the end of the two-week deadline to strike Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility and could act alone, Reuters reported Saturday, citing two sources familiar with what they described as a tense phone call.

“The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war," the report said citing the sources.

The White House is expected to hold a national security meeting on Saturday afternoon on Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Saturday that any US involvement would be dangerous, insisting Tehran would not negotiate under bombardment.

The unprecedented step reflects the seriousness with which the 86-year-old leader views the current threat environment, as Israeli airstrikes continue to target Iranian military and nuclear assets.

Khamenei, who is now operating from a secure underground location and communicating through a trusted aide, has also named backups for key military positions in case more senior commanders are killed, the NYT cited the officials as saying.

“Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, also a cleric and close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was rumored to be a front-runner, is not among the candidates,” the report said.

The identity of the three clerics has not been disclosed, but the move is seen as an effort to ensure a swift and orderly succession via the Assembly of Experts if the supreme leader is assassinated or dies unexpectedly.

As Iran International previously reported, Khamenei was relocated to an underground bunker in Lavizan, northeast Tehran, shortly after the airstrikes began. His close family, including Mojtaba, are also at the facility. The transfer followed internal assessments of vulnerability at top levels of Iran’s leadership.

In a separate report, Iran International learned that Khamenei has delegated key powers to the Supreme Council of the Revolutionary Guards in what officials described as a wartime precaution, allowing critical decisions to proceed should the Supreme Leader become incapacitated.

"There are a small number of unconfirmed reports of Americans being detained and imprisoned," the report said, citing the cable.

US diplomats are following up on these reports, the cable said, acknowledging that many Americans are in harm's way as Donald Trump considers military action against Iran.

Many of the US citizens who were leaving Iran faced delays and harassment, the Washington Post reported, citing the cable.

There is no definitive count of how many US citizens remain in Iran. The State Department has said it is not offering US government-assisted departures from Iran. Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Friday, “Americans seeking to depart should take advantage of existing means to leave.”

Detentions and diplomatic strain persist

Since the beginning of the Iran-Israel conflict on June 13, foreign nationals have been advised to leave Iran and avoid travelling to the country.

The Islamic Republic has a long history of detaining and convicting foreign nationals, using them as leverage in negotiations with world powers.

US permanent resident Shahab Dalili is among those known to be imprisoned in Iran.

Iran and the US broke diplomatic ties following the 1979 hostage crisis involving US diplomats in Tehran, which lasted 444 days.

US warns citizens to leave Iran as land borders remain limited

The US Virtual Embassy in Tehran urged American citizens to leave Iran immediately, citing continued airspace closures and security risks amid hostilities with Israel, according to a security alert issued on their website.

The alert said land borders with Armenia and Turkey are open, while crossings into Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan require prior government approval. The embassy warned it cannot guarantee the safety of those attempting to exit by land and noted internet disruptions and limited consular support.

US citizens were advised to prepare for emergencies and avoid relying on the US government for evacuation assistance.