The US and Israeli armed forces launched strikes in Iran, where powerful explosions were heard in the capital and several other cities, after weeks of threats of military intervention.
According to US President Donald Trump, the aim of the joint operation is to «eliminate the immediate threats from the regime» of Iran. However, he added, addressing Iranians, that «your hour of freedom is very near», in a speech from his residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, estimated that the joint military operation «will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands».
«The time has come for all layers of the people in Iran (...) to remove the yoke of tyranny», for a «free and peaceful Iran”, he added.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Kats announced earlier the launch of a «pre-emptive strike» in order to «eliminate threats (...) to the State of Israel».
According to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population can be «expected in the near future in the near future», and that a «special and immediate state of emergency» has been imposed throughout the country.
The Israeli Ministry of Transport announced the closure of «Israeli airspace to civilian flights» and demanded that travellers «do not go to airports until further notice», Schools will remain closed in Jerusalem until at least the day after Monday at 20:00 (GMT).
Explosions in Tehran
Powerful explosions were heard in Tehran by French Agency journalists and two columns of thick smoke began to rise in the central and eastern parts of the Iranian capital.
According to the ISNA news agency, the Pasteur district, where in particular the residence of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Presidency are located, in the central part of Tehran, was bombed.
Ambulances were rushed to the city centre after the blast, while hospitals were put on alert, Health Ministry spokesman Hussain Kermanpour said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The number of casualties, dead and injured, and the areas affected will be announced later, once the figures are confirmed, he said.
Explosions were also heard in the major city of Isfahan (central), the holy city of Qom (central), Karaj, west of Tehran, and Kermanshah (west), the FARS news agency reported.
«The type of explosions indicate that it was a missile attack,» the same source added, without further elaboration.
Telephone connections and internet access are unstable and problematic, an AFP reporter said.
In Jerusalem, air defence alarms were sounded; the Iranian Tasnim agency reported that the first volley of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles was launched against targets in Israeli territory by the Revolutionary Guards.
In June 2025, Israel and Iran engaged in a 12-day war, triggered by a large-scale Israeli attack that targeted mainly the Iranian armed forces command, missile launch facilities, nuclear facilities and nuclear scientists.
The US became involved in the final stage of that war, bombing three key Iranian nuclear facilities.
The escalation of tensions followed the bloody crackdown in January on massive Iranian protests, which US President Trump promised to «help».
Until last night, the US asserted that it «preferred» the path of «diplomacy», while continuing to increase military pressure on Tehran by deploying a large air force in the Gulf and the Mediterranean, including the USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
But Donald Trump yesterday said he was not «happy» about the negotiations that have been going on since February, despite Oman's assurances that there had been «significant progress».
Accusing Tehran - which denies it - of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, the US is demanding a complete end to uranium enrichment. Iran rejects this, recalling that it is its right as part of its civilian nuclear programme.
Washington is also pushing for restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile programme, which Tehran refuses to even discuss.
