WASHINGTON — The newest US-Israeli strikes on Iran are expected to be far more extensive than last June’s attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, The New York Times reported Saturday.Citing US officials, the newspaper said the initial focus of the current strikes is Iran’s military infrastructure.In addition to nuclear facilities, Iran is believed to possess more than 2,000 missiles — primarily short- and medium-range ballistic missiles — positioned at launch sites across the country, according to US military officials quoted in the report.The newspaper, citing three Israeli security officials familiar with the operations, said a central goal of the first joint wave of strikes was to target as many senior Iranian leaders as possible.According to the officials, planners sought at least partial surprise, similar to last June’s strikes, aiming to hit senior Iranian figures in the initial phase before heightened security measures could limit further targeting.Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was not notified in advance of the strikes, his spokesman told the newspaper.Reed warned in a statement Friday, before the attack began, that “if war is unnecessary, it should be avoided.”He said Congress had “received no real briefings or intelligence” on a possible strike and argued that while Iran posed a “serious” and “destabilizing” threat, the administration had presented no “strategic justification for preemptive strikes.”Israel launched its operation against Iran early Saturday under the name “Lion’s Roar,” declaring a “special and immediate” state of emergency across the country.US President Donald Trump later said American forces had begun “major combat operations” in Iran.Last June, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites during the closing days of the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
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