Israel has launched what it describes as a “preemptive” strike on Iran’s capital, with explosions booming across Tehran as Israel said it targeted nuclear and military sites.
The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Iran’s top military leaders as well as senior nuclear scientists were targeted in the opening strikes and “chances are increasing that they were eliminated”, an Israeli security source told reporters.
A separate source familiar with the details said some senior Israeli officials have been moved to “secret locations” following Israeli attempts to eliminate senior Iranian officials.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency is quoting an anonymous official saying Iran will offer a “decisive” response to Israel’s attack.
The report did not elaborate.
However, Iranian state television put a black band over the corner of its broadcast, suggesting the attack had been significant enough to spark public mourning.
The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years yesterday censured Iran over it not working 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 warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it doesn’t want — though officials there have repeatedly warned it could build them.
The US has been preparing for something to happen, already pulling some diplomats from Iraq’s capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East.
People in Tehran awoke to the sound of the blast.
State television acknowledged the blast.
It wasn’t immediately clear what had been hit, though smoke could be rising from Chitgar, a neighbourhood in western Tehran.
There are no known nuclear sites in that area — but it wasn’t immediately clear if anything was happening in the rest of the country.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address on YouTube that the country launched “a targeted military operation roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”.
He added that the attacks will continue “for as many days at it takes to remove this threat”.
An Israeli military official says that his country targeted Iranian nuclear sites, without identifying them.
The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation, which is also targeting military sites.
Black smoke was seen over Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz though it wasn’t clear how bad the damage was.
Iranian state television briefly showed the live picture with a reporter.
Natanz is partially above ground, partially below ground, with multiple halls of centrifuges spinning uranium gas for its nuclear program.
Netanyahu had said Israel targeted the site in today’s attack.
Natanz previously has been targeted by the Stuxnet cyberattack and multiple sabotage campaigns likely carried out by Israel.
Iranian state television said the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was feared dead in the attack.
The report offered few other details about what happened to General Hossein Salami of the Guard.
The report on air added that one other top Guard officials, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead.
State television also reported the attack set the headquarters of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard ablaze.
Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising nearly 5 per cent on the news.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said that his country carried out the attack, without saying what it targeted.
“In the wake of the state of Israel’s preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately,” he said in a statement.
The statement added that Katz “signed a special order declaring an emergency situation in the home front”.
“It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,” it said.
US ‘not involved’ in strikes
The US was not involved in the strikes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, noting that Israel had “advised” the US that it believed the “action was necessary for its self-defence”.
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.
Rubio also issued a warning to Iran that it should not target U.S. interests or personnel.
US President Donald Trump convened a Cabinet-level meeting Thursday evening, which was expected to focus on the US response to the developing events in Iran, a White House official and two sources familiar with the plans told CNN.
As the explosions in Tehran started, Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress.
It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes.
Trump earlier said he was urging Netanyahu to hold off from taking action for the time being while the administration negotiated with Iran.
“As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think it would blow it,” Trump told reporters.
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