Israel attacks Iran nuclear sites and military leadership as Middle East

• Israel attacks Iran: Israel has launched unprecedented strikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days. Israel’s military says 200 fighter jets have been used. In retaliation, Iran has launched over 100 drones toward Israeli territory, Israel’s military said.

• Military leaders killed: General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, was killed in the attack. He was among the country’s most powerful figures. The attack also killed Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military officer.

• Nuclear targets: Netanyahu said “Operation Rising Lion” struck Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists, and what he called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.”

• US position: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes. Before the attack, President Donald Trump said he did not want Israel to target Iran as US negotiations on a nuclear deal continue.

Pictures show damage in Iran after Israeli strikes

Israel launched strikes across Iran last night it said targeted its nuclear programme. Here are some pictures from Tehran this morning :

Residents watch a damaged apartment in Tehran.

A firefighter calls out his colleagues at the scene of an explosion in a residence compound in northern Tehran.

Debris from an apartment building is seen on top of parked cars in Tehran.

What’s happened so far

The IDF says Iran has launched about 100 drones towards its territory, after Israel launched strikes across Iran overnight it said targeted the “heart” of Iran’s nuclear programme. 

• The strikes have killed Hossein Salami, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, as well as two top nuclear scientists, according to Iranian state media. 
• Israel’s President Benjamin Netanyahu said that the strikes were a “targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”. He said, “if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.” He has declared a state of emergency.
• The US was not involved in the strikes, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
• Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel should expect “severe punishment” as a response to the strikes.