IDF spokesman says strikes are a response to ‘months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran’, as explosions are heard around Tehran and nearby city of Karaj
Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials were assessing the security situation, the Israeli prime minister’s office said, as the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on Iran early on Saturday.
Netanyahu was conducting the assessment at the air force base in the defence ministry with the defence minister, the army chief, the head of the Mossad and the head of the Shin Bet, Agence France-Presse reported the statement from his office as saying.Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. Here’s a snapshot of the latest news.
Israel has launched direct airstrikes against Iran in a high-stakes retaliatory attack that could bring the Middle East closer to a regional war, drawing in the US.
At least seven explosions were reported over the capital, Tehran, and nearby Karaj just after 2.30am local time on Saturday, as Israeli jets struck what were described as “military targets” in the country, Andrew Roth and Bethan McKernan report.
It was not immediately clear if that marked the end of the attack – fresh blasts were reportedly heard around Tehran on Saturday shortly after the earlier ones. Continuous explosions and light trails were visible across the sky in central Tehran, Agence France-Presse said.
In other developments:
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it had begun to launch “precise strikes on military targets in Iran” in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Iran against Israel.
Iranian state TV reported several strong explosions heard around Tehran. There were no casualties, the state news agency IRNA said. There was no immediate official Iranian comment about the source of explosions, which Iranian news outlets said were under investigation.
