Donald Trump said the US military has launched ‘major combat operations’ against Iran following airstrikes across Tehran and elsewhere in the country.
Clouds of smoke were rising from buildings in central Tehran after airstrikes rang across the city with a population of 9.7 million.
Trump said the US is carrying out ‘massive and ongoing operation’ in Iran to prevent ‘very wicked, radical dictatorship’ from threatening the US and its allies.
An Israeli military official told Reuters that the operation this morning was coordinated with the US.
The White House first declined to comment before Trump confirmed the operation.
While one of the Israeli attacks landed near supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office, it is not clear whether the 86-year-old had been in at the time.
Unconfirmed explosions have also been reported at possible military bases and missile sites in Chabahar and Konarak along the Gulf of Oman, and in Ilam near Iran’s border with Iraq.
He has not appeared in public in weeks as tensions in the region have been growing following back-and-forth threats between Iran and the US president Donald Trump.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said the attack was carried out ‘to remove threats,’ although he did not specify the threat.
Tensions remain high as it is not known yet whether Iran plans to respond, but Israel has shut its airspace and issued an alarm to residents ‘to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.’
US Ambassador to Israel Huckabee told US nationals in the country to stay near shelters in Israel and ‘take immediate action at the sound of alerts or sirens.’
It comes after recent nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington appear to have unravelled.
Trump used his Board of Peace speech last week to threaten Iran with military action, saying the country must shut down its nuclear program or risk ‘bad things.’
Last month, the US moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided missile destroyers into the region, which can be used to launch attacks from the sea.
He issued Tehran a 10-day deadline on February 19.
Earlier last week, Iran conducted military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Iran also buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the U.S. during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases ahead of Trump’s new attack.
Days ago, aircraft were positioned in Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan and Greece. Naval assets were in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and near the Strait of Hormuz.
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