The United States (US) and Israel have struck multiple locations across Iran, including the capital, Tehran, in what US President Donald Trump described as “major combat operations”.
The attacks come amid negotiations between the US and Iran over the latter’s nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes, after weeks of mounting threats from Trump – and eight months after the US and Israel waged a 12-day war against Iran.
Iran has struck back with missiles aimed at northern Israel. Details of casualties and damage in Iran and Israel are sparse at the moment.
Earlier, an Israeli strike hit an elementary girl’s school in Minab, a city in
the Hormozgan province of southern Iran, killing five people, according
to Al Jazeera.
Now, Iran’s Fars news agency is reporting that the number of students killed rose to 24.
Here’s what we know so far:
What happened in Iran?
At about 9:27am (06:27 GMT), Iran’s Fars news agency reported a series of explosions in the capital, Tehran.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in western Tehran said he heard two explosions, while videos shared on social media showed smoke rising from several parts of the city.
Israel first announced that it had launched missile strikes on targets inside Iran.
A US official told Al Jazeera that the strikes were carried out as part of a joint military operation with the US. In recent weeks, Washington has assembled a large fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region, its most significant military buildup there since the Iraq War.
Trump described the operation as “massive and ongoing”.
The US Department of Defense later said the mission was named “Operation Epic Fury”, marking the first public statement from the US military since the start of the joint US-Israeli attack.
Where in Iran have the US and Israel attacked?
Several missiles struck University Street and the Jomhouri area in Tehran, and close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters, the Fars news agency reported.
The Associated Press news agency reported that a strike in Iran’s capital happened near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that explosions also occurred in Tehran’s northern Seyyed Khandan area.
Explosions have also been reported in the cities of Kermanshah, Qom, Tabriz, Isfahan, Ilam and Karaj, as well as in Lorestan province, according to local media.
What did Donald Trump say?
While announcing “major combat operations” Trump said that the aim of the US campaign was to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground”.
“We are going to annihilate their navy,” Trump added.
Here are the key points of his message
• The US has begun major combat operations in Iran, describing them as “massive and ongoing”.
• The stated aim is to eliminate what Washington calls imminent threats from the Iranian government.
Trump said the campaign’s military objectives include:
• Destroying Iran’s missile capabilities.
• Target Iran’s navy.
• Disrupting Iran-backed armed groups in the region
• Making sure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon
He also laid out a warning-cum-offer to Iran’s military personnel. If they laid down their weapons, Trump said, he would give ensure they had amnesty. But if they did not, he warned, they would face “certain death”. He acknowledged US forces could face casualties.
Reuters quoted a US official as saying that the Trump administration was planning a “multiday operation”.
The US president’s comments suggest that Trump was setting “the table for a revolution in Iran” — 73 years after the CIA orchestrated a coup against democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reported from Washington.
“They’ve done it before. This time, they’re doing it with weapons and bombs rather than covertly through the CIA,” Fischer said. “It’s clear that this is going to be a continuous military operation, with Donald Trump accepting the fact that there may be casualties.”
What is Iran’s response?
Iran retaliated by first launching missiles toward Israel, according to the Israeli military. Air raid sirens sounded in several parts of the country, and explosions were reported in northern Israel.
“The public is requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command,” Israel’s military said in a statement. “At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat.”
But soon after, Iranian forces launched missiles at several locations linked to US military operations across the region, including:
• Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar
• Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait
• Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates
• The US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain
• Explosions were also heard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Earlier, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, threatened a “crushing” response. “We warned you!” Azizi wrote on social media. “Now you have started down a path whose end is no longer in your control.”
Where are Iran’s leaders?
It is not immediately clear where the 86-year-old Khamenei is. He hasn’t been seen publicly in days as tensions with the United States have grown.
Roads to Khamenei’s compound in downtown Tehran were shut down by authorities as blasts rang out across the capital.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted a source in the presidential office as saying that President Masoud Pezeshkian was unharmed.
