US and Israel launch strikes on Iran: what we know so far

On Saturday morning, the US and Israel launched a series of strikes on Iran. In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it fired missiles against US military bases in the Gulf. Explosions were reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar. One person was killed by shrapnel from an Iranian missile in the UAE, officials said. Explosions shook the Iranian capital Tehran, where people reported seeing smoke rising from the district that includes the presidential palace. Iran also launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, with blasts reported in the skies over Jerusalem. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said air defence systems were working to shoot down the “barrage of missiles” launched from Iran. Israeli officials told the media that top Iranian regime and military leaders, including Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Masoud Pezeshkian, were targeted in the attacks. It is believed that Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been taken to a secure location, while Iranian media is reporting that Pezeshkian is safe. The US president, Donald Trump, vowed that the “massive and ongoing” campaign against Iran would crush its military, eliminate its nuclear programme and bring about a change in government. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” he said. TheIsraeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the operation was to remove an “existential threat”. Talks between the US and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear programme ended inconclusively on Friday, with a suggestion that further discussions would be held next week. Trump had said he was “not happy” with the progress of discussions. Smoke rises in Tehran after US and Israel launch joint attack on Iran – video