AFP

British authorities said Sunday a nationwide police operation is being launched against "grooming gangs" suspected of sexually exploiting thousands of girls and young women over decades.

Iran's judiciary said Monday it hanged a man arrested in 2023 and convicted of being a spy for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, as fighting raged between the two foes.

Israel's massive strikes on Iran, which it calls an existential threat, have hit nuclear and military facilities, killed top commanders and dozens of civilians, and sought to destroy the country's defence capabilities.

Iran called the Israeli air assault "a declaration of war" and fired dozens of missiles at Israel later Friday and Saturday.

"Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that," British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said from his hospital bed on Friday, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News.

Jordan and Iraq on Friday announced the closure of their airspace and grounded all flights after Israel's attack on Iran, with Amman vowing it would not allow any violations of its airspace.

Oil prices soared more than 12 percent and stocks sank Friday after Israel launched strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites and warned of more to come, stoking fears of a full-blown war.

Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets including Tehran's nuclear and military sites, and killing the armed forces' chief of staff, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and top nuclear scientists.