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Israel launched air strikes on Iran on Saturday with massive explosions rocking Tehran and smoke rising in an area where the Iranian president’s office is located.
“The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“As a result, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future.”
Iranian media reported explosions in central, northern and eastern Tehran. A video by ISNA, the semi-official news agency, showed clouds of smoke rising on Pastor street where the president’s office is located.
Israel shut its airspace and imposed restrictions on gatherings across the country, sounding sirens as an alert to warn people to stay close to shelters.
The strikes follow weeks of tensions as US President Donald Trump has sought to pressure Iran over its nuclear programme, ordering the largest American military build-up in the region since the Iraq war in 2003 and threatening to launch strikes on Iran if it did not agree to a deal.
It was not immediately clear if the US had joined the Israeli attack.
