Live updates: Missiles launched at Israel, Trump declares 'major combat operations' in Iran

Loud booms were heard in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, according to five witnesses, including two correspondents from the Reuters news agency.

One witness told Reuters she heard five booms in rapid succession that caused windows in a house near Abu Dhabi's Corniche to vibrate.

In the meantime, Agence France-Presse correspondents in the Saudi capital Riyadh heard loud explosions on Saturday, after Qatar and a United States base in Bahrain were struck.

Two correspondents in Riyadh said they heard a loud bang and several explosions, after Iran vowed retaliation following US and Israeli attacks.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has welcomed the strikes.

"This is a humanitarian intervention; and its target is the Islamic Republic, its repressive apparatus, and its machinery of slaughter—not the country and great nation of Iran," he said in a video message on X.

"Even with the arrival of this aid, the final victory will still be forged by our hands. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish the job in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is near."

He also asked Trump to "exercise the utmost caution to preserve the lives of civilians".

Pahlavi has consistently described himself as a transitional leader of a potential revolution in Iran in previous years and days.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

After explosions were heard in the centre of Tehran, the Reuters news agency reported a local official had said the country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was transferred to a secure location.

Iran's 86-year-old supreme leader has long embodied the Islamic Republic's posture of defiance towards its enemies, chiefly the United States and Israel.

In power since 1989 and holding the final say on all major state matters, Khamenei has overseen the steady advancement of Iran's nuclear programme, framing uranium enrichment as a sovereign right.

Here is everything you need to know about Khamenei:

READ MORE

Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader?

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Despite reports of a lack of internet connectivity, many photos have been circulating that show some of the impacts of the first wave of US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran.

The first wave of airstrikes struck the central area of Tehran, Iran's capital. Source: Anadolu / Getty Images

IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported shortly after the first wave of attacks that additional explosions had been heard in various parts of Tehran. Source: Anadolu / Anadolu / Getty Images / Fatemeh Bahrami

Early on, an Israeli defence official told Reuters its operation against Iran had been coordinated with the United States, something two US officials also confirmed to Reuters. Source: AAP,Press Association / Middle East Images/ABACA

Shortly after news of the airstrikes emerged, the Israeli defence minister said that his country had "launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel". Source: Supplied / Telegram

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Emergency sirens went off in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, the country's interior ministry said on Saturday following US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

"The siren has been sounded due to a hazard," said an interior ministry alert sent to residents' mobile phones.

AFP correspondents in Bahrain's capital Manama also reported hearing the sirens.

There are also reports of sirens being heard in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The Qatari government has also issued a mobile phone alert warning people to stay away from military installations.

In late June 2024, Iran launched missiles at a US airbase in Qatar, in retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear facilities two days earlier.

— AFP & Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has published a video confirming the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, saying it was "an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran".

"Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands," he said in Hebrew in a video posted on social media.

"The time has come for all parts of the Iranian people ... to cast off the yoke of tyranny and bring freedom and peace-loving values to Iran."

He said the operation was being referred to as "Roaring Lion", a reference to "Rising Lion" — the Israeli military's name for its operation in the 12-day conflict with Iran in June 2025.

The US Department of War — known until recently as the Department of Defense — has called the current operation "Epic Fury".

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has reported that it has identified "missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel".

"The public is requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command. At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat," the IDF stated.

Speaking to Israel's parliament recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that if Iran attacked Israel, his country would "respond with a force they cannot even imagine".

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

United States President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had started "major combat operations" in Iran.

"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime," Trump said in a video shared on social media.

"Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.

"For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries."

He said that the US is going to "destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground".

"They rejected every opportunity to reach their nuclear ambitions, and we can't take it anymore," Trump said.

The US president also warned that "the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties".

"That often happens in war, but we're not doing this now. We're doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission."

READ MORE

Iran has its 'finger on the trigger'. But is it at its 'weakest' as US tensions soar?

His statement follows weeks of US military build-up in the Middle East and multiple rounds of indirect negotiations in Oman and Switzerland about Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities.

This is the second time the US has attacked Iran in less than a year — the last time they dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites during the Iran-Israel conflict in June.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Iran's Tasnim news agency, associated with the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has reported that the country "is preparing for revenge and a crushing response".

At the start of the month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that a US attack on Iran could trigger regional conflict.

In mid-2025, Iran and Israel engaged in 12 days of intense fighting after Israel launched its largest-ever attack on the country.

US-based rights group HRANA estimated that Israel's attacks on Iran killed 5,665 people, hundreds of whom were civilians.

READ MORE

A historic war and a fragile truce: Has 12 days of fighting reshaped the Middle East?

During the conflict, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and many waves of suicide drones at Israel, claiming the lives of 28 people, all but one of whom were civilians, according to a Times of Israel tally.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee / Zacharias Szumer

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location, Reuters has reported, citing a local official.

Previous reports from Iran have indicated that the initial attacks happened in central Tehran, where the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also known as the House of Leadership, is located.

There are no reports on whether the office has been targeted or not.

According to an Iranian official quoted by Reuters, several government ministries in southern Tehran have also been targeted by airstrikes.

While casualty or injury estimates are yet to emerge, Iranian Ministry of Health spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour told local media that ambulances had been dispatched to Tehran's city centre.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee / Reuters

An Israeli defence official has told Reuters the ongoing Israeli operation against Iran had been coordinated with the United States.

The operation was planned for months, and the launch date was decided weeks ago, the official added.

Three US officials have also told CNN that the US is involved in the strikes.

United States President Donald Trump recently expressed disappointment about US negotiations with Iran ‌over its nuclear program, warning: "Sometimes you have to use force".

READ MORE

'Significant progress' made during US and Iran talks — but no sign of a deal yet

After this week's talks wrapped up without a deal, Trump said ‌Iran was still unwilling to forswear nuclear weapons as demanded by the US.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi recently told Iranian state television: "We reached agreement on some issues, and there are differences regarding some other issues."

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for Iran's civil aviation organisation, has announced that "the entire country's airspace has been closed until further notice".

Multiple local news agencies have reported attacks on other Iranian cities beyond Tehran, including Isfahan and Qom, which are close to two of the country's main nuclear plants.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Following the initial reports of Israeli attacks on Tehran, Iranian local media outlets have reported additional explosions in other areas of Tehran

IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has reported that about thirty minutes after the first attacks, more explosions were heard in various parts of the capital.

The Jerusalem Post has reported that the strikes are likely to continue throughout the day.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Israel has launched a preventative missile attack against Iran, the Israeli defence minister said on Saturday.

"The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel," Israel Katz said.

Israel's military on Saturday said it had sounded air raid sirens in areas across the country "to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward Israel" in retaliation.

The Israeli military also announced a closure of workplaces, schools and other places of public gathering in the country following the attack.

— Reuters

Within the last hour, multiple images and reports have emerged of explosions in Iran's capital of Tehran.

A photo shared on Telegram shows smoke rising in Tehran.

The local Fars News Agency — an outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — has confirmed initial reports indicating that several missiles had hit areas in central Tehran.

Source: Supplied

— Niv Sadrolodabaee