Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is alive and is being continuously briefed about the situation, a security source told Reuters, following an Israeli attack on Iran early on Friday.
Israel said it targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders on Friday at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
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Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel it faced a “bitter and painful” fate over the attacks.
The Israeli military said later that Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel in response and that its air defences were intercepting them outside Israeli territory.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News he had advance notice of the Israeli strikes which Israel’s military said involved 200 fighter jets. Trump also stressed that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb”.
The United States underlined that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Tehran not to attack its personnel or interests.
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But Tehran said the United States would be “responsible for consequences” as Israel’s operation “cannot have been carried out without the coordination and permission of the United States”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, taking aim at the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists.
The strikes would “continue as many days as it takes”, the Israeli leader said, adding later that the initial wave of strikes were “very successful”.
The Israeli military said its intelligence gathering showed Iran was approaching the “point of no return” on its nuclear programme.
The strikes killed Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.