Israel Strikes Iran, Kills Intelligence Chief in Tehran

• Israel confirms air strikes in Tehran killing Iran’s intelligence chief.
• Netanyahu says key nuclear sites and military targets were destroyed.
• Iran reports 224 dead; Israel focuses on dismantling nuclear, missile threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli air strikes against Iran killed intelligence chief Mohammed Kazemi as tension continues to mount between the two countries.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said, "Moments ago, we also got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran. Our brave pilots are over the skies of Tehran, and we're targeting military sites, nuclear sites.”

On Sunday, the health ministry of Iran announced the death of 224 people since the attack of Israel began last Friday. Israel stated that 14 people were killed there since Friday and another 390 injured.

"We've destroyed the main facility in Natanz. That's the main enrichment facility," Netanyahu said.

In the course of the interview, the Israeli PM also added that he had directed his officials to push negotiations of the release of hostages in Gaza because he felt that there was an opening. Playing a surprise attack early on a Friday morning, Israel targeted several military command centers of Iran and destroyed its nuclear installations in an operation named "Operation Rising Lion". In the past, Netanyahu mentioned that the campaign will go upward in the coming days. Iran has condemned the move that could open the gates of hell against Iran, single and triple Operation Honest Promise 3. According to the Israeli military, the overthrow of the regime is not the aim of the campaign; however, dismantling Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs is the current objective.

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"We're geared to do whatever is necessary to achieve our dual aim, to remove ... two existential threats - the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat," Netanyahu said.

He added, “We did act to save ourselves, but also, I think, to not only protect ourselves, but protect the world from this incendiary regime. We can't have the world's most dangerous regime have the world's most dangerous weapons.”