Israeli attack on Iran, which happened this morning, was coordinated with United States of America, an Israeli source confirmed to CNN. The attack targeted ballistic missiles and missile launch systems, which Israel considers a serious threat to its security.
A US official has confirmed that US military strikes against Iran are underway, the New York Times reported. Targets across Iran appear to be being attacked.
According to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, three explosions were heard in central Tehran.
Meanwhile, an air strike was heard in Israel, and Iran retaliated with an attack.
At the same time, a cyber attack was carried out on Iran, and according to media reports, Iran is in the middle of an almost complete internet blockade.
Trump: We're stopping an evil dictatorship from threatening America
Ahead of the attack on Iran, Donald Trump announced a "tough decision" about the country to a crowd in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was promoting the energy agenda.
"We have a big decision to make, a difficult one," Trump said of the situation surrounding the Iran nuclear negotiations, according to CNN.
Trump said a day earlier that he was dissatisfied with the progress of talks between US and Iranian officials and demanded that Tehran completely abandon uranium enrichment.
After the attack, in an eight-minute video on Truth Social, Trump said the US was "undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very evil, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests."
The US president said that America will "destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry", "destroy their navy" and "ensure that terrorist brokers in the region can no longer destabilize the region".
He said the US had "repeatedly tried to reach a deal" to curb Iran's nuclear program, but claimed Iran had "rejected every opportunity to give up its nuclear ambitions".
"This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and power of the United States armed forces," Trump added.
APTOPIX Iran US IsraelTehran this morning, Photo: AP Photo
Counterattack
Iran retaliated, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that it had launched the first wave of drones and rockets at Israel. Explosions were heard in northern Israel, reports AP.
Tehran had previously promised to respond if attacked and a few hours after the attack on Iran, explosions were heard in northern Israel, according to the AP.
And the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim that Iran retaliated with attacks.
"Sirens sounded in several areas across the country after rockets were spotted fired from Iran towards Israel," the IDF said in a statement.
American military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar were also attacked. One person was killed in the United Arab Emirates by shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack, local media reported.
Israel US IranPeople in Israel moved en masse to shelters; Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg
State of emergency
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel and the United States of America (USA) have begun an operation to eliminate the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.
"I thank our great friend, US President Donald Trump, for his historic leadership," the Israeli Prime Minister said in a statement.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier that Israel had launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran to eliminate threats to the country's security and that a state of emergency had been declared throughout the country.
"The State of Israel has launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran to eliminate threats to the State of Israel. A current state of emergency has been declared throughout the country," he said, The Times of Israel reported.
The Israeli military also said it had carried out a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, including tunnel shafts and rocket launch sites.
The greatest fear in Israel and the greatest danger to American troops is Iran's ballistic missiles. Iran has two to three thousand medium-range ballistic missiles and between six and eight thousand short-range ballistic missiles.
