It has been five days since Israel first struck Iran. What we know so far

United States President Donald Trump is leaving the G7 Summit in Canada a day earlier than planned, cancelling his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to focus on the tensions in the Middle East.

It comes five days after Israel first struck Iran, with the death toll expected to grow and oil prices see-sawing as fighting between both sides continues. Here’s what we know about why Israel launched the first attack, how Iran retaliated, and what comes next – plus, what Australia and the United States are saying about it.

US President Donald Trump is leaving the G7 Summit one day early as tensions in the Middle East continue.Credit: AP

What has Donald Trump said about the Iran-Israel war?

When Israel first struck Iran on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was not involved and warned Iran off attacking US targets throughout the Middle East as part of any retaliatory response.

By Tuesday, Trump, who had previously warned of possible “massive conflict” over Iran’s nuclear weapons program, was calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran, Iran’s capital, and reiterating the Islamic Republic should have signed a nuclear agreement with the White House.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned: “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran! Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”

Hours earlier, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment of additional defensive capabilities to the Middle East.

On Tuesday afternoon, Reuters quoted French President Emmanuel Macron as saying at the G7: “There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions. We have to see now whether the sides will follow.”

Trump denied this in a post shared to Truth Social minutes before Air Force One was due to take off from Calgary, writing: “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!”

Where has Israel struck?

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the target was specifically “nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb”.

In a recorded video statement, Netanyahu described Iran’s nuclear capabilities as a “clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival”. He vowed to “fend off the threat of annihilation”.

An Israeli military official said that same day his country had targeted Iranian nuclear sites, without identifying them, the Associated Press reported. The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, which also targeted military sites.

By Saturday night, some of Iran’s most vital oil and gas facilities had been struck. Bloomberg reported on Monday morning that a key Iranian nuclear facility had been dealt critical damage during the weekend airstrikes. On Tuesday morning, a newsreader was broadcast live running for cover as an Israeli airstrike hit Iran’s state-run television station.

Key sites in Iran that have been attacked by Israel

Explosions rang out in Tehran on Friday about 3am local time (about 10am AEST). Multiple sites across Iran were reportedly targeted by airstrikes and covert Mossad sabotage operations in what appeared to be the most significant attack the country has faced since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.

The extent of the damage to key Iranian nuclear sites is still being established. Both sides have supplied contrasting assessments on the success of the Israeli operation.

On Friday, Iranian state television said its Natanz nuclear facility had been hit in the initial strikes. It aired footage of black smoke rising from the site. It said there was “no sign of nuclear contamination” at the time. The enrichment facility of the Natanz plant is underground, protected by a 7.6 metre thick concrete shield. Satellite imagery shows some above-ground structures have been toppled since Friday, and the Wall Street Journal was reporting on Monday morning that Natanz’s uranium enrichment facility may have imploded.

Israel on Saturday said its strikes on Natanz and the uranium conversion Isfahan facility had damaged both sites “significantly”. Iran said the damage to both facilities at that time was limited. On Monday morning, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that several Israeli strikes had left the Isfahan facility, 400km south of Tehran, with critical damage, possibly setting the Islamic Republic’s uranium fuel cycle back by months.

Iran’s main known nuclear facilities include Natanz, Isfahan, the Fordow enrichment site south of Tehran, the Arak heavy water reactor, the Bushehr nuclear power plant and an unfinished reactor in Khondab. It is understood residential areas in Tehran and several other Iranian cities have been hit in the strikes and that production at the world’s biggest gasfield – the South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar – has been suspended due to a fire caused by an Israeli strike on Saturday.

How did Iran respond?

Regional security sources said Tehran was unlikely to respond with similarly effective strikes because its missile capabilities and military network in the region had been severely degraded by Israel since October 7, 2023.

In a statement to Iranian state television on Friday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel will receive a “harsh punishment” in response to the strikes. He said Israel had “unleashed its wicked and bloody” hand in a crime against Iran and that Israel’s “vile nature” had been revealed in the attack.

An Iranian security source previously told Reuters “the response to the Israeli attack will be harsh and decisive”. A spokesman for the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces said Israel would “pay a heavy price for the attack”.

State news agency IRNA on Saturday said Iran had launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation. Explosions were heard in Jerusalem and Israeli TV stations showed plumes of smoke rising in Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said the missiles had numbered fewer than 100 and that most had been intercepted or had fallen short.

Rishon LeZion, Tamra and Bat Yam have also been hit. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Sunday said they had also targeted Jaffa, home to one of the oldest operating ports in Israel, with several ballistic missiles in the 24 hours prior. By Tuesday, Bazan Group – one of Israel’s largest oil companies – had shut down all refinery facilities after a power station was damaged by an overnight Iranian missile strike. Iran was also starting to speak of a ceasefire deal, urging Trump to facilitate it.

“If [US President Donald] Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X.

“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu.”

Why did Israel attack Iran?

Israel’s initial attacks on Friday came as tensions reached new heights over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The board of governors at the IAEA for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran for its refusal to work with its inspectors.

Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones. Israel for years has said it would not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran says it doesn’t want – though officials there have repeatedly said it could.

An Israeli military official told Reuters that Israel saw Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons as an existential threat, and that it would operate to remove their capabilities.

The US had been preparing for something to happen, pulling some diplomats from Iraq’s capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East.

Who has been killed in the attacks?

A security source told Reuters after Israel’s initial strikes on Friday that Khamenei was alive and was being briefed continuously on the situation. It was also reported by Reuters that Khamenei’s top political, military and nuclear adviser, Ali Shamkhani, had been “critically injured” in the strikes. Shamkhani’s death was later reported by Iranian state media.

Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was reportedly killed in a strike that hit the Iranian Armed Forces’ branch headquarters. Iranian state television said Salami was “martyred” during the attacks.

It’s understood nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi are among the dead, according to Iranian state media, and that Trump had vetoed a plan presented by Israel to the US to kill Khamenei.

The death toll in Iran is at least 224 people and there have been 1277 hospitalisations since hostilities began, according to Iran’s state media, which said most of the dead were civilians. Washington-based Iranian advocacy group Human Rights Activists, meanwhile, reported on Tuesday that 406 people had been killed, including 197 civilians. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel, all civilians.

What has Israel said?

Netanyahu vowed on Friday to carry out an extensive operation to remove Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival,” Netanyahu said. “This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

A military official said Israel was also targeting Iranian commanders and that it was striking “dozens” of nuclear sites across the country.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia delivered a veiled barb to Foreign Minister Penny Wong and other Western leaders pushing for diplomacy on Sunday after Wong revealed she had phoned her counterpart in Iran to urge restraint after Israel’s strikes.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu told troops at an Israeli air base that they were on their way to achieving Israel’s two main aims: wiping out Iran’s nuclear program and destroying its missiles.

“We are on the path to victory,” he said. “We are telling the citizens of Tehran: ‘Evacuate’ – and we are taking action.”

With Associated Press and Reuters.

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