Israel has killed the head of Iran's armed forces and bombarded the country's nuclear facilities overnight in a devastating series of strikes designed to stop Tehran building an atomic bomb.
In what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "a decisive moment", the country's "Operation Rising Lion" saw a list of targets struck throughout the early hours.
Among those was Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief Hossein Salami, a 65-year-old hardliner appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei himself.
"Moments ago, Israel launched... a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," Netanyahu said. "This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
Social media footage showed fires breaking out in Tehran and in central Iran
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief Hossein Salami was killed in an Israeli air strike
REUTERS
An Israeli military official said his country was striking "dozens" of nuclear and military targets, including a facility at Natanz in central Iran.
The official warned that Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within just days.
And as well as extensive air strikes, Israel's Mossad security agency carried out a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran through the night.
"The IDF tonight began operation 'Rising Lion', to attack Iran's strategic threats to the state of Israel," IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir said.
"We are in a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical campaign to prevent an existential threat, by an enemy who seeks to destroying us.
"We launched this attack because the time has come, we are at the point of no return. We must not await another time to operate, we have no other choice."
LATEST AS TENSIONS FLARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST:
PICTURED: Firefighters scramble to a smouldering tower block in Tehran on the morning of June 13
REUTERS
As the sun rose on capital city Tehran, Iranians woke up to see tower blocks destroyed in the series of Israeli strikes
REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) vowed: 'We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region'
REUTERS
In response, Khamenei issued a dire threat back to the Israelis.
"The Zionist regime unleashed its wicked and bloody hand in a crime against Iran this morning and revealed its vile nature," he spat.
"With this attack, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter fate for itself, which it will definitely receive."
With tensions skyrocketing, the United States has distanced itself from "Rising Lion".
The US insists it had no part in the operation, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowing: "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region."
"Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel," he added.
The State Department then went on to warn all US Government employees in Israel and their family members to "shelter in place until further notice".
'The Zionist regime has prepared a bitter fate for itself, which it will definitely receive,' the Ayatollah fumed
REUTERS
As the morning went on, Iran retaliated by sending some 100 drones back in the direction of Israel - which the Jewish state's military was working to intercept.
Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes.
Shortly after 6am, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer released a statement reading: "The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region.
"Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy."
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