US military has launched ‘major combat operations’ in Iran – Trump
Trump says the US military has launched “major combat operations” in Iran, saying the country had attempted to rebuild its nuclear programme.
Key events
Emma Graham-Harrison
Sirens sounded across Israel just after 8am on Saturday, waking up anyone who was still asleep, and alerting the population that another war had begun.
Less than a year after Israel’s last war with Iran, which involved ballistic missile strikes on towns and cities across the country, citizens were warned to stay near shelters and be alert to air-raid warnings.
Air space was closed, with civilian flights cancelled and travellers turned away from the main Ben Gurion airport.
Saturday is a quiet day in Israel, when observant Jews avoid using phones and transport, and most shops and businesses are closed, so the disruptions caused by war were less immediately obvious.
But schools and universities will be closed on Sunday and Monday, and the large Sheba medical centre near Tel Aviv announced it would shift patients to underground wards.
Mobile phone services cut in Iran
Mobile phone services have been cut in Iran after the Israeli attacks, according to a report from Associated Press.
Blasts heard in several cities – reports
Blasts have been heard in several cities, including the capital, Tehran, and Isfahan in central Iran.
Reuters reports there are long queues at petrol stations in the capital, as many people try to leave. An unnamed Iranian official who spoke to the news agency said several ministries in southern Tehran had been targeted.
Images show smoke rising from Tehran
Some more photos are coming through of smoke on the Tehran skyline:
The Iraq transport ministry said on Saturday it has also closed national airspace after Israel launched what its defence minister described as a pre-emptive attack against Iran, the state news agency said.
Iran closes its airspace
Iran has closed its airspace until further notice, the civil aviation authority has said, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights on Saturday after announcing “preventive strikes” on Iran and sounding sirens in Jerusalem.
“Following the security developments, the Minister of Transportation has ordered the Director of the Israel Civil Aviation Authority to close the airspace of the State of Israel to civilian flights,” the minister, Miri Regev, announced.
Reports are emerging that the US is involved in Israel’s strikes on Iran’s capital.
Associated Press reported that a US official and a person familiar with the operation said the US is participating in the Israeli strikes. They spoke on condition of anonymity, AP said.
Reuters has also cited an unnamed Israeli defence official as saying the Israeli operation in Iran was coordinated with the US.
The Guardian has been unable to confirm this.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not in Tehran
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location, an official told Reuters on Saturday.
Israel said it launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran on Saturday, with multiple explosions reported in Tehran.
Loud blasts and columns of smoke in Tehran, report AFP journalists
Two loud blasts were heard in Tehran on Saturday morning by Agence France-Presse journalists, and two plumes of thick smoke were seen over the centre and east of the Iranian capital.
“The type of explosions suggests that this is a missile attack,” the Fars news agency reported, without immediately providing further details.
Israel strikes Iran
Israel says it has launched a “preventative” strike on Iran and is preparing for retaliation.
On Friday, Donald Trump said he had not made a final decision on whether to launch US strikes on Iran – but added he was “not happy” with the situation, and that military force, including regime change, remained an option.
Talks between the US and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear programme ended inconclusively, with a suggestion that further discussions would be held next week.
It comes amid a massive buildup of US naval forces in the Middle East, including repositioning aircraft carriers and other warships.
Trump had previously given Tehran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to make a deal to resolve their longstanding nuclear dispute or face “really bad things”.
It came as Iran accused the US of spreading “big lies” about its missiles programme, after Trump claimed Tehran was building weapons that could strike the US.
During his State of the Union speech, the US president said Iran has “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach” the US.
He described Iran as “the world’s number one sponsor of terror” and claimed at least 32,000 protesters were killed during recent unrest in the country.
Baqaei rejected those claims, without mentioning Trump directly. “Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest, is simply the repetition of ‘big lies’,” he posted on X.
We are starting our live coverage as Israel says it has launched a strike on Iran. We’ll keep you abreast of developments as they happen.