Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly the target of the US-Israel airstrikes on Tehran, which have sparked a retaliation from the regime.
Donald Trump said the US military has launched ‘major combat operations’ against Iran with airstrikes across the country, while Iran says it is carrying out counterattacks.
Clouds of smoke were rising from buildings in central Tehran after joint US-Israel airstrikes rang across the capital.
Trump said the US is carrying out ‘massive and ongoing operation’ in Iran to prevent ‘very wicked, radical dictatorship’ from threatening the US and its allies.
One of the missiles has reportedly destroyed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound, although it is not clear whether the 86-year-old had been in at the time.
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He has not appeared in public in weeks as tensions in the region have been growing following back-and-forth threats between Iran and the US president.
A satellite image obtained by the New York Times is thought to show the destroyed compound of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which is reportedly his official residence (Picture: Christiaan Triebert/Airbus/X)
Israel’s public broadcaster said the strikes today targeted Khamenei and president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Missiles are thought to have hit a part of Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s, home, who is a regime hardliner, according to the New York Times.
Trump reportedly said lives may be lost and ‘we may have casualties,’ adding that ‘that often happens in war.’
Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social: ‘Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.’
The operation against Iran is called ‘Epic Fury,’ the US Department of War said.
Speaking to the Washington Post today, Trump said his goal is ‘freedom’ in Iran, suggesting that the allies are eyeing up regime change in the Islamic Republic.
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The Israel Defense Force said the air force is ‘operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat’ after the IDF said Iran had fired missiles towards it, with sirens warning residents to seek shelter, including in Jerusalem and Haifa.
A map shows where missile attacks have been reported after US-Israel attacks on Iran, followed by retaliation from the regime (Picture: Anadolu/Getty Images)
Now Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it has launched a counterattack.
It also warned that it considers ‘all US bases, resources and interests in the region to be legitimate targets’ for retaliation.
A statement from IRGC said: ‘In an answer to the hostile and criminal enemy assault to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the first broad wave of missile and drone attacks of the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the occupied land has begun.’
There are fears the escalation could spill over more widely in the region as explosions have also been reported in the sky in Amman, Jordan, near a US naval base in Bahrain and in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Gulf countries and Iraq have closed their airspace following the escalation, with an impact on flights also felt at Heathrow Airport.
Unconfirmed explosions have also been reported at possible military bases and missile sites in Chabahar and Konarak along the Gulf of Oman, and in Ilam near Iran’s border with Iraq.
It is not known yet if people have been killed or injured on the ground in Iran, but hospitals are on alert, according to state news agency IRNA.
Residents ran for cover in Tehran this morning after the attack, which Israel described as ‘pre-emptive’ (Picture: REUTERS)
Iran is now under a ‘near-total’ internet blackout, according to analyst NetBlocks tracking connectivity.
Iran is reportedly preparing for ‘crushing’ counterattacks on Israel following the airstrikes this morning, according to Iranian outlet Tasnim News.
Israel has shut its airspace and issued an alarm to residents ‘to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.’
Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, people took cover in shelters after Iran launched missiles towards Israel in response to the attacks (Picture: AP)
US Ambassador to Israel Huckabee told US nationals in the country to stay near shelters in Israel and ‘take immediate action at the sound of alerts or sirens.’
The UK Foreign Office has told British nationals in the Gulf countries to ‘immediately shelter in place’ following reports of missile attacks targeting Bahrain.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said the attack was carried out ‘to remove threats,’ although he did not specify the threat.
An Israeli military official told Reuters that the operation this morning was coordinated with the US. The White House first declined to comment before Trump confirmed it.
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