Iran launches retaliatory strikes on Israel, killing 3

Tehran, June 15: Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel into Saturday morning, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, after a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran's nuclear program and its armed forces.

Israel's assault used warplanes, as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks.

Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon before the strikes. 

It also threw talks between the United States and Iran over an atomic accord into disarray days before the two sides were set to meet Sunday.

Defense Minister Israel Katz issued the stark warning after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff. He says Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens.

The Israeli military said around noon on Saturday that its fighter jets "were set to resume striking targets in Tehran."

Meanwhile, the U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — confirmed in a post on X that the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran was targeted several times on Friday.

"No increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of now," the agency said. Syria's civil aviation authority says it's reopening the airspace on Saturday but will follow the situation in the region and take any necessary measures if needed. The airspace was closed on Friday.

National carrier Syrian Air also said it is resuming some of its flights. Iran confirms 2 more high-ranking generals were killed in Israeli strikes

Iranian state television identified the two killed as Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces' general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations. It did not say where the men were killed.

Israel's strikes on Friday killed multiple high-ranking officers within Iran's armed forces, including the chief of staff of the army and the head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Three people were wounded in Jordan's northern city of Irbid when an object fell on a home, state media reported Saturday. They were taken to a hospital and are in stable condition, the Jordan News Agency said.

The report did not specify what the object was, but Iranian missiles and drones fired toward Israel flew over Jordan. Jordanian authorities have begun an investigation, the report said.

Lebanon reopened its airspace on Saturday morning, hours after closing it due to the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Works and Transport apologized to passengers whose flights were delayed, saying it had closed the airspace late Friday for the safety of travelers.

The airspace was reopened at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday.

Satellite images analyzed Saturday by The Associated Press began to confirm some of the damage sustained by Iran's ballistic missile arsenal by the Israeli assault on the country.

Images from Planet Labs PBC taken Friday showed damage at two missile bases, one in Kermanshah and one in Tabriz, both in western Iran.(AP)