Summary

• Israel has carried out strikes on nuclear sites in Iran, the IDF has said, with blasts heard in Tehran
• The strikes were part of Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu says, adding Iran was a threat to “Israel’s very survival”
• Israel has declared a state of emergency, saying the country expected counter-attacks “in the immediate future” 
• Iranian state TV said residential areas in Tehran were hit and children were among those killed, though this could not be independently verified
• Iranian state media also reported that Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami was killed in a strike 
• There was no US involvement or assistance in the strikes, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio 
• International reaction has begun pouring in, with Australia saying it was “alarmed” by the escalation

Netanyahu felt this was time to act, whether Trump likes it or notpublished at 06:4206:42

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

It has been clear that there has been growing tension between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump over the possibility of this attack. Trump has been telling the Israeli leader that he doesn’t want him to do this now – and urged him to wait while the US administration continues nuclear negotiations with the Iranians.

Clearly the Israelis thought that they now had their opportunity. They believe that the Iranians are as debilitated as they are going to be in the region after last year’s degradation of Hezbollah in Israel’s neighbour, Lebanon. 

The Americans don’t like it – that’s clear from the statement from Marco Rubio. They are so far distancing themselves from it, trying to signal they mean to stay out of this fight for the moment.

It’s clear the US isn’t happy about thispublished at 06:4106:41

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

The US had advanced warning of Israel’s attack on Iran. The Trump administration’s rapid move to protect American personnel in the region was evidence of that.

It’s also fairly clear that US officials are not happy with this development. Their cold response so far to the Israeli action, notable for its emphasis on a US lack of involvement in planning or support, underlines that.

American negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme were ongoing. Steve Wikoff, Donald Trump’s diplomatic Jack-of-all-trades, was set to meet with the Iranians in Oman on Sunday. While a diplomatic breakthrough appeared more distant than it had in recent weeks, there was still the possibility of an agreement that the US president could herald as a signature foreign policy achievement.

Needless to say, that’s much less likely now.

Trump may be reluctant to publicly acknowledge this, but Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to green light Israeli strikes on Tehran and other targets is a dramatic stiff-arm to the US efforts to reach an accord with the Iranians – and to the US president himself.

Trump may style himself as Israel’s best friend, but the Israeli prime minister is going to operate on his own timetable, not one set by Americans.

While the Middle East teeters on the brink of a larger conflict, Trump will now have to come to grips with this new diplomatic crisis. While he has spoken hopefully of a new Middle East peace, Israel’s latest action underlines the American president’s limited power to shape the region’s fate.

New explosion at Natanz nuclear facilitypublished at 06:3806:38

There has been a new explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility, Iranian state television reports, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Natanz nuclear facility is located about 225km south of Tehran.

Iran names two nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikespublished at 06:3406:34

Iranian state TV has named two senior nuclear scientists killed in the Israeli strikes.

As we just reported, one is Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The AEOI is responsible for Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Abassi survived an assassination attempt on a Tehran street in 2010.

The other is Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, the president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

Who is Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly killed in strike?published at 06:3006:30

Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, is perhaps the most senior Iranian leader killed in the Israeli strikes. 

Salami first joined the Revolutionary Guards in 1980 during the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War. 

As he rose through the military ranks, he became known for his strong rhetoric against the US and its allies. 

Since the 2000s, he has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council and the US for his involvement in Iran’s nuclear and military programmes.

He was the head of the Revolutionary Guards in 2024 when Iran staged its first-ever direct military attack on Israel, deploying more than 300 drones and missiles.

As tensions with Israel soared in recent days, Salami said on Thursday that Iran was “fully ready for any scenarios, situations, and circumstances”. 

“The enemy thinks it can fight Iran the same way it fights defenceless Palestinians who are under an Israeli siege,” he said. “We are war-tested and experienced.”