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In a dramatic and potentially destabilizing turn for the Middle East, Israel launched a large-scale military operation inside Iran early Friday morning, striking nuclear and military sites and killing several of Tehran’s top commanders and scientists.
The airstrikes, described by Israeli officials as a “last-resort self-defense campaign," mark a dangerous escalation between the two bitter rivals and raise serious concerns about a wider regional conflict, one that Cyprus, just across the sea, cannot ignore.
In a statement issued in Nicosia, the Israeli Embassy made it clear: this was not a warning shot; this was a calculated strike to dismantle what it described as an immediate and existential threat.
“Iran is moments away from acquiring nuclear weapons,” said the Israeli Deputy Ambassador to Cyprus. “We had no choice but to act before it was too late.”
The embassy said Iran has been enriching uranium at an alarming rate, with enough material now accumulated for at least nine nuclear bombs, a third of it in the past three months alone. According to the Israeli statement, this rapid acceleration happened even as Iran engaged in diplomatic talks, which Israel claims were a cover for continued weaponization.
“The Iranian regime has been promoting a clandestine nuclear weapons program while developing advanced missiles to deliver them,” the Deputy Ambassador added. “This is not speculation. It is a fact, backed by IAEA reports.”
Iranian state media confirmed the deaths of senior military figures, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guard and the armed forces chief of staff. Black smoke was seen rising over nuclear facilities, including the main enrichment site at Natanz. Israel insists its strikes were precise, targeting only nuclear and military infrastructure, and not the Iranian public.
“This is not an attack on the Iranian people,” the deputy ambassador stressed. “It is an operation against the radical leadership threatening Israel’s very existence.”
Iran has vowed harsh retaliation. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of committing a grave crime, and more than 100 Iranian drones were launched in response, most reportedly intercepted.
While Cyprus is not directly involved, the developments have immediate implications for the region. The closure of airspace over Iran, Israel, Jordan and Iraq, the spike in oil prices, and the threat of broader instability all echo beyond the conflict zone.
Diplomatic and defense circles in Nicosia are on alert, with Cyprus acting as both a close regional neighbor and a strategic platform for international diplomacy and humanitarian coordination.
As the Israeli operation continues and Iran weighs its next move, Cyprus, located less than 1,000 kilometers from the conflict zone, finds itself once again watching a regional crisis unfold from dangerously close range.
