Israel Claims Total Aerial Dominance Over Tehran: Live Updates
Aerial attacks between Israel and Iran continued overnight into Monday, marking a fourth day of strikes following Israel's Friday attack. That surprise operation hit at the heart of Iran's nuclear program, striking key facilities and killing several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military leaders, according to Israeli officials.
The U.S. did not provide any military assistance or have any involvement in Israel's Friday strike, a U.S. official told ABC News. President Donald Trump told ABC News on Sunday, "It's possible we could get involved."
Latest Developments
Netanyahu tells ABC he's not ruling out taking out Iran's supreme leader
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would end, not escalate, the ongoing fight between Israel and Iran that erupted late last week.
When asked by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl about reports from ABC News and other outlets that President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran's supreme leader, concerned that it would escalate the conflict, Netanyahu said, "It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict."
"We've had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that terrorizes everyone in the Middle East; has bombed the Aramco oil fields in Saudi Arabia; is spreading terrorism and subversion and sabotage everywhere," Netanyahu said. "The 'forever war' is what Iran wants, and they're bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. In fact, what Israel is doing is preventing this, bringing an end to this aggression, and we can only do so by standing up to the forces of evil."
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State Department issues 'do not travel' warning for Israel
The State Department on Monday upgraded its Israel, West Bank and Gaza travel advisory to a Level 4 "do not travel" warning.
The warning comes shortly after the State Department authorized the voluntary departure of family members and nonemergency U.S. government employees "due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region," the alert said.
8 killed in Israel by overnight Iranian attacks
The death toll in Israel from Sunday night's Iranian ballistic missile strikes rose to eight people as of Monday, authorities said, as recovery efforts at impact sites continue.
At least 24 people have now been killed in Israel since the country launched its surprise attack on Iran on Friday, according to the latest figures released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday.
At least 224 people have been killed in Iran by Israeli strikes, Netanyahu's office said on Monday.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
IDF orders evacuation of part of Tehran
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning to residents in District 3 of Tehran to "immediately leave" ahead of planned strikes there.
"In the coming hours, the Israeli army will take action in this area to attack the Iranian regime's military infrastructure, just as it has done in recent days around Tehran," a post to the IDF's Farsi-language X account read.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Dada Jovanovic and Ellie Kaufman
Israel not seeking regime change in Iran, IDF says
Israel is "not planning to change the regime in Iran," Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told ABC News' Ian Pannell in Tel Aviv on Monday.
"Our military targets, our military goals are to remove this threat, to remove the threat of a nuclear bomb over Israel and the ballistic missiles, and of course the proliferation of terror all over the region," Defrin said.
"It's up to the Iranian people to change the regime, not to us," Defrin said. "We are removing this threat. This is why we paved the way to Iran."
Asked about the growing toll on Israeli civilians as Iran retaliates, Defrin said, "Can you imagine what would have happened if this happens when Iran has nuclear capabilities?" He then suggested that Israel had "only a matter of days" in which to prevent such a development.
Attacks in Iran, Defrin continued, will go on for "as far as we're concerned."
-ABC News' Ian Pannell, Morgan Winsor, Dana Savir, Alessandro Pavone and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Israeli control of Tehran airspace changes 'entire' campaign, Netanyahu says
Israel's control of the airspace over Tehran represents a "change in the entire" military "campaign," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in comments on Monday.
"When we control the skies over Tehran, we are striking these goals, the regime's targets, in contrast to the criminal regime of Iran that targets our citizens and comes to kill children and women," Netanyahu said.
"We are telling the citizens of Tehran: 'Get out' -- and we are acting," Netanyahu said.
At least 224 people have been killed in Iran since Israel launched its first strikes there on Friday, according to Iranian authorities. At least 24 people have been killed by Iranian retaliatory strikes in Israel, according to Netanyahu's office.
Iran and Israel have both accused the other of striking civilian targets.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
IDF says it killed 4 senior Iranian intelligence officials
The Israel Defense Forces said in a Monday statement that it killed four senior Iranian intelligence officials in an airstrike in Tehran.
The IDF said the four officials were killed after an Israeli Air Force strike targeted a "structure in Tehran where several senior officials from Iranian intelligence" were located.
"In the strike, the Head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization and his deputy, as well as the Head of the Quds Force Intelligence Department and his deputy, were all eliminated," the IDF said.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
IAEA monitoring Iranian nuclear sites 'very carefully'
The International Atomic Energy Agency is monitoring the situation in Iran "very carefully," the body's Director General Rafael Grossi told the IAEA's board of governors on Monday.
The IAEA is watching Iran's nuclear facilities and the level of radiation "through constant communication with Iranian authorities," Rossi said in a statement published on the IAEA website.
The agency, he added, is ready to respond to an emergency within an hour and will remain present in Iran. Grossi said he is in touch with inspectors on the ground and "stands ready to travel immediately."
Grossi also provided a status update on Iran's three key nuclear facilities -- the fuel enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow plus the Isfahan nuclear site.
Grossis said there had been no additional damage at Natanz since Israel's opening strikes on Friday, which destroyed the above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant and electrical infrastructure.
The level of radioactivity remains unchanged and at normal levels outside the Natanz site, but within the facility "there is both radiological and chemical contamination," Grossi said.
Grossi reported that four buildings had been damaged at Isfahan, but that off-site radiation levels remained unchanged.
The IAEA chief said there was no damage at Fordow.
-ABC News' Charlotte Gardiner
Israeli military claims 'full' aerial control over Tehran
The Israeli military said Monday it had achieved "full aerial operational control above Tehran."
Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin also said that the Israeli military had destroyed one third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers, which Tehran has been using to fire ballistic missiles toward Israel.
-ABC News' Dana Savir, Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
'Minor damage' at US Embassy building in Tel Aviv, Huckabee says
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reported "some minor damage" to the American Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv on Sunday night due to "concussions of Iranian missile hits" nearby.
Huckabee said there were no injuries among U.S. personnel. American diplomatic offices in Israel remain closed alongside a shelter in place order for U.S. personnel.
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