The US and Israel have launched co-ordinated strikes across Iran, including Tehran, on Saturday, in a “preventative attack”.
Iran have retaliated with the Israel Defence Forces confirming that they had identified missiles launched towards them, and were intercepting the threat. Reports of explosions have also been made in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, which house US military bases.
President Donald Trump confirmed a “major combat operation” in an eight-minute speech, stating Iran could never have a nuclear weapon and adding: “It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to take it any longer.”
Witnesses said they heard the blasts in the Iranian capital, while footage appears to show columns of smoke rising above the city.
Iran and Israel have closed their airspace, while officials in Tehran said their supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location.
The development comes amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme – its long-running effort to enrich uranium, which Western powers fear could be used to produce nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, staff have been withdrawn from the British Embassy in Iran, while at the US embassy in Jerusalem, non-emergency US staff and their families have been told to leave Israel due to safety risks.
