Israel says nuclear and military targets hit across Iran

"Moments ago, Israel launched Operation rising lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address on Friday local time.

"This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat for decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly openly called for Israel's destruction. They backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons."

"Iran and its proxies tried to encircle Israel with a ring of fire and to attack us with the horrible attack of October 7, but the people of Israel, the soldiers of Israel, rose like lions to defend our country," Netanyahu added.

"We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran's main enrichment facility in Natanz," he added. "We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile program."

IRGC-affiliated Fars News reports that several residential units in Shahrak-e Mahallati in eastern Tehran have been targeted. The district is known to house senior Iranian military officials and their families.

Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport says it has cancelled all its flights. Iranian airspace has also been closed following the Israeli strikes, according to FlightRadar24 data.

"Homes of senior military and political officials were targeted in Israeli airstrikes in Tehran," a senior Israeli political official told Iran International, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Civilians are not the intended targets," the official added.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced a nationwide special state of emergency on the home front, warning that a missile and drone assault targeting Israel is likely imminent following the country’s “preemptive” strike on Iran.

"Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Katz said.