US, Israel launch attack on Iran, explosions across Tehran

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A US official tells Al Jazeera that attacks were carried out as a joint military operation between Israel and the US.

The United States and Israel have launched an attack on Iran, with explosions heard and seen across Tehran.

Several missiles have struck University Street and the Jomhouri area in Tehran, Fars news agency reported. Smoke was seen rising in the city, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that explosions also occurred in Tehran’s northern Seyyed Khandan area. Other Iranian media cited attacks nationwide.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Israel launched the missile attack in order to “remove threats to the State of Israel”.

A United States official told Al Jazeera that the attacks were carried out as a joint military operation between Israel and the US, which has assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear programme.

The Associated Press news agency reported that the strike in Iran’s capital happened near offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to an official cited by Reuters, Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.

Al Jazeera’s Maziar Motamedi, reporting from Tehran, said cellphone communications has been disrupted in several areas of the capital. “No calls are possible at present,” he said.

Sirens in Israel

As sirens sounded and a state of emergency declared in Israel, the Israeli military said it had issued a “proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.”

Israel’s Airports Authority announced airspace had been closed to all civilian flights and urged the public not to come to the airport.

Meanwhile, the ⁠US Embassy in Qatar ⁠implemented shelter-in-place for ⁠all personnel, recommending that all of ‌its citizens to do the same until further notice. Iraq’s transport ministry said ⁠it had closed its national airspace.

Reuters cited an Israeli defence official as saying the attacks had been planned for months ⁠and the ⁠launch date ⁠decided ⁠weeks ago, even as the US and Iran carried out negotiations.

Mehran Kamrava, director of the Iranian studies unit at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies and professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said Israel “appears to have launched an attack designed to derail the negotiations”.