Image Credentials: Image Title: ISRAEL EXPANDS STRIKES: TABRIZ UNDER HEAVY ATTACK, IRAN VOWS “SEVERE REVENGE” (sora.chatgpt) Date: May 2025 Attribution: Created by AI-generated imagery (sora.chatgpt), and it does not depict a real-world scene.
By Staff Writer with Agencies, International Correspondent | June 13, 2025
TABRIZ, IRAN — Israeli forces have launched a major new wave of airstrikes on the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, marking a dramatic escalation in the widening conflict between Israel and Iran. Iranian state media confirmed the city is currently under “severe attack” as explosions and air raid sirens shook the region early Friday morning.
The strike on Tabriz comes just hours after Israeli warplanes targeted multiple Iranian nuclear and military facilities, including key sites in Tehran, in what officials in Jerusalem have described as a large-scale preemptive operation designed to neutralize Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Top Iranian Military Leaders Killed
Among those killed in the Israeli attacks, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are two of the country’s most senior military leaders:
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Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC
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Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces
The IRGC confirmed their deaths in a statement Friday, calling the strikes “criminal and terrorist acts” carried out while the commanders were “performing national security duties.”
“Commander Salami was one of the most prominent figures of the Islamic Revolution, martyred while defending the ideals of the revolution and our nation,” the statement read.
Iran Retaliates With Drone Barrage
In immediate response, Iran launched over 100 drones toward Israel, in what appears to be the first wave of a broader retaliation campaign. Israeli air defenses have been placed on full alert, with early reports indicating that Iron Dome systems have intercepted several incoming projectiles over central Israel.
“The miscalculation and crime of the sworn enemies of Iran and Iranians will not go unanswered,” the IRGC warned. “They must expect severe and regretful revenge.”
Blame Cast on U.S., Warnings of Further Escalation
The IRGC also directly accused the United States of complicity in the strikes, stating:
“The criminal Zionist regime will pay a heavy price for this crime committed with the knowledge of the vile rulers of the White House and the terrorist American regime.”
So far, the White House has not issued an official response, though U.S. officials have previously acknowledged heightened concerns over Israeli plans to strike Iranian nuclear assets. U.S. forces in the region were placed on elevated alert earlier in the week, and non-essential diplomatic staff were reportedly relocated from Baghdad and Beirut in anticipation of conflict.
Escalating Regional Fallout
The attack on Tabriz marks the widest geographic scope of Israeli strikes in recent memory, signaling that the conflict may continue to grow in both intensity and scale. Analysts warn that Iranian proxy groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen may soon join the fray, turning the confrontation into a region-wide war.
What Comes Next?
International reactions have been swift, with emergency meetings reportedly convened by the United Nations Security Council and the European Union Foreign Affairs Council. Energy markets responded immediately, with Brent crude surging past $93 a barrel amid fears of a broader Middle East war.
Netanyahu, speaking in a brief televised address from the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, stated:
“Our actions are necessary, precise, and justified. We will not allow a regime that threatens our very existence to gain the means to carry out that threat.”
The world now watches with bated breath as two long-standing enemies move closer to all-out war, with global powers racing to contain a conflict that could redraw the map of the Middle East — and shake the foundations of international stability.