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Israel launched a “preemptive” strike against Iran early Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, amid sharply escalating regional tensions.
"The State of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran. Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a special and immediate state of emergency throughout the country," read a statement from his ministry.
Meanwhile, Israeli media on Saturday, citing Israeli security sources, reported that the attack on Iran was a joint U.S.-Israel operation.
Air raid sirens sounded across Israel, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, indicating a nationwide alert.
As new explosions occurred in the Iranian capital Tehran, Israeli media reported that senior Iranian officials were targeted in the attacks.
Additionally, cyberattacks have targeted multiple news sites, inlcuding IRNA, and local news apps, IRNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the United States has begun "major combat operations" in Iran, with air and sea strikes hitting targets across the country, including the capital Tehran, in the most significant U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran is attempting to rebuild its nuclear program and develop long-range missiles that could threaten the United States.
Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, said: "My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short time ago, Israel and the United States embarked on an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran. I thank our great friend President Donald for his historic leadership."
"Our joint actions will create the conditions for the courageous Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands. The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people - the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baluchis, and the Ahwazis - to throw off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peace-loving Iran," he added.
A US official told Reuters that the focus of the American strikes is Iran's military apparatus. Besides nuclear facilities struck last June, Iran is believed to have more than 2,000 missiles, primarily short- and medium-range ballistic missiles scattered at launch sites across the country, US military officials said.
The strikes are being carried out from Middle East bases and aircraft carriers, and are expected to be far more extensive than last June's Operation Midnight Hammer attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites, The New York Times reported.
The attack follows a massive US military buildup in the region that included the deployment of two aircraft carriers, the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford, a number of naval destroyers and more than 50 fighter planes, as well as more than 300 military aircraft deployed across the region.
This marks the second US attack on Iran in less than a year.
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