Explosive Tensions: US and Israel Launch Strikes on Iran, Triggering Tehran Blasts

In a dramatic escalation of tensions, Israel and the United States launched a daylight missile strike targeting Iran on Saturday. This action follows weeks of heightened friction between then-President Donald Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The initial attack reportedly took place near the offices of Ayatollah Khamenei, with witnesses observing thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Despite the alarming proximity of the strike, officials have confirmed that the 86-year-old leader, who has been absent from public view for several days, was not in Tehran at the time. He has been moved to a secure location for safety.

At present, the full extent of the United States’ role in the strikes remains uncertain. However, this aggressive action follows the strategic positioning of a US fleet, comprising fighter jets and warships, in the region. The show of military might is widely seen as an attempt to pressure Iran into negotiating over its nuclear program.

The extent of the US’s involvement in the strikes is not currently clear.

However, they come after the US assembled a fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear programme.

In Tehran, witnesses heard the first blast by Mr Khamenei’s office. Iranian state television later reported the explosion, without offering a cause.

Sirens sounded across Israel at the same time as it closed its air space. 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’.

More explosions struck Iran’s capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes.

Meanwhile, Iran shut down its air space and mobile phone services were cut.

An image shows smoke billowing from a building after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday morning. The apparent strike happened near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Israel Katz, the Israeli Defense Minister, announced that the country is under a state of emergency as thick smoke rose from an explosion in downtown Tehran (pictured)

Israel has warned its own citizens to prepare to take cover if the Iranians fight back, with sirens already being heard across Israel.

The country’s Defense Force said: ‘This is a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the State of Israel.’ 

Airspace above Israel was closed to civilian flights following the strike this morning.

More explosions struck Iran’s capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes. 

The explosions come as tensions are high between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program. 

This week Trump made the grave warning that Iran is manufacturing weapons that could soon strike US.

Tehran is ‘working on missiles that will soon reach’ America, Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. He also vowed to prevent Iran, the ‘number one sponsor of terrorism,’ from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump has openly flirted with regime change too, telling reporters recently that the ousting of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‘would be the best thing that could happen.’

But US intelligence reports have not yet concluded that Iran is capable of crafting a weapon capable of reaching the homeland.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed last year that Iran could need until 2035 to create a ‘militarily viable’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – the kind that travels thousands of miles, including, for a time, through space before the warhead plummets towards its target.

More explosions struck Iran’s capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes

Pictured: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. He said the daylight attack was ‘to remove threats,’ without providing any further information. Early reports suggest that the attack on Iran was coordinated with the US 

The IDF launched the surprise ‘preemptive’ attack in coordination with the US, according to Israeli and American officials

This week Trump made the grave warning that Iran is manufacturing weapons that could soon strike US

‘Iran has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability,’ the DIA report states.

Two aircraft carrier strike groups – representing around 15,000 soldiers, over a dozen ships, hundreds of planes and likely some submarines – are being used by Trump to get Iran to capitulate to his denuclearization demands.

In addition, many thousands of troops and scores of military assets are on bases throughout the region, though there are some reports of evacuations.

The stalemate has recently shown some signs of traction with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with chief Iran negotiator Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Oman’s foreign minister. 

Additional meetings were scheduled for Friday. 

The heated tensions this year come just months after Operation Midnight Hammer – one of the most sophisticated military aviation successes in recent American history.

Last June, Trump’s B-2 Stealth Bombers were flown to Iran in a 37-hour secret mission to quell the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear capabilities. 

Two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles hit Iran in the operation.

Their purpose was to neutralize Iranian defense systems protecting nuclear enrichment facilities at Isfahan. When these sites had been destroyed, the B-2 group entered Iranian airspace.

The stealth jet squadron slipped into enemy skies, moving into attack formation at ‘high altitude and high speed’, with lighter, more mobile F-22 fighter jets sweeping in front of the B-2s to shield them from any surface-to-air or air-to-air fire.

There was none. Not a single shot was fired at any of the aircraft or warships involved in Midnight Hammer from the beginning of the operation to its end.

This is a breaking news story.