Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to have been killed after a devastating barrage of 30 bombs obliterated his compound in Tehran.
The air strike was part of an audacious plan to wipe out the murderous regime's entire leadership and signalled the start of a massive attack by the US and Israel that this weekend plunged the entire Middle East into regional conflict.
On Saturday night, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were 'many signs' that Khamenei, 86 – who was Iran's Supreme Leader for 37 years – was killed in the strike, which destroyed a series of buildings in the compound where key regime leaders were meeting.
His body was reportedly among those pulled from the rubble.
Israeli TV networks reported on Saturday night that a photo of the body had been shown to Mr Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
Less than two hours after the first explosions ripped through Tehran, Iran launched a wave of retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israel, Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
In Dubai a fire erupted at the entrance of the luxury Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel after it was apparently hit by an Iranian Shahed drone.
In Bahrain, another Iranian attack drone smashed into a tower block hours after drones hit the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) is believed to have been killed after a devastating barrage of 30 bombs obliterated his compound in Iran
Videos showed a huge explosion, with black smoke billowing from a port which serves as a crucial US command centre.
On Saturday night thousands of Britons were stranded across the Middle East as airports shut down amid the dramatically escalating conflict.
During a momentous and fast moving day:
- The US and Israel hit more than 500 targets across Iran in an extraordinary joint operation;
- President Trump urged Iranians to rise up to overthrow the brutal mullahs, declaring: 'The hour of your freedom is at hand';
- Keir Starmer announced British planes were 'in the sky' as part of 'defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies';
- Iran's defence minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran's feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were reportedly killed in the first wave of strikes;
- Khamenei's son Mojtaba, who was expected to succeed his father, is believed to have been killed, according to Israeli media outlets;
- Ships were said to have been blocked by Iran from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important routes for exporting oil;
- Iranian officials claimed 85 people were killed in a strike by the US or Israel on a girls' school in southern Iran.
In an eight-minute video released on social media on Saturday morning, President Trump announced 'major combat operations' had started against Iran and warned 'the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost'.
Wearing a white baseball cap emblazoned with the words USA, he pledged to eliminate Iran's nuclear programme and devastate its military, adding: 'It's a very simple message: they will never have a nuclear weapon.'
US officials said its military carried out dozens of strikes, with attack planes launched from bases around the Middle East and from at least one aircraft carrier.
Explosions were seen and heard across parts of the Iranian capital, with smoke rising above residential areas
Tomahawk cruise missiles were also believed to have been fired from an armada of US warships. The Israeli army said around 200 fighter jets took part in an 'extensive attack' and that the raids were the largest in its air force's history.
The first wave of the operation – dubbed Epic Fury by the US – is believed to have been launched with the aim of 'decapitating' Iran's leadership.
Intelligence sources reportedly indicated that key regime figures were meeting on Saturday morning at three locations, including Khamenei's compound, which were targeted simultaneously. The attacks are said to have been given the green light once intelligence agents in Iran confirmed the senior leadership were in place.
Extraordinary videos showed Iranians celebrating as fire and smoke erupted from the compound in central Tehran, which is used as Khamenei's residence and the main premises for hosting officials. A Channel 12 news report in Israel said a blitz of 30 bombs had hit the compound.
Khamenei was said to be in an underground building, but not in one of the two deepest bunkers.
Following the strike, an Iranian official insisted that the Supreme Leader was not in Tehran at the time of the strikes.
But in a statement on Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu said: 'For three and a half decades, this cruel dictator has sent terror throughout the world… and has been working constantly, relentlessly, on the plan to destroy Israel. This plan is gone. And there are many signs that this dictator is gone too.'
Minutes after the destruction of Khamenei's compound, explosions erupted at the Ministry of Intelligence, Ministry of Defence, Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran and the neighbourhood that is home to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's former hardline president.
Vehicles burning in Tehran on Saturday after air strikes by Israel and the US
One astonishing video showed 21 Tomahawk missiles screaming at low level over the Iranian countryside on their way to hit targets in the capital.
Elsewhere, an astonishing 20 of Iran's 31 provinces were believed to have been hit in subsequent attacks, with strikes reported in the cities of Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah and Isfahan.
Israel said it expected the assault to last several days.
Iran immediately vowed a 'crushing' response. It first fired a barrage of missiles against Israel, many of which were intercepted, and then launched a blitz of missiles and so-called 'suicide' drones across the Middle East.
At 11.10am at least three of its drones struck an area near the HQ of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, resulting in a huge plume of black smoke rising above the port.
The site is close to the UK Naval Support Facility, home to dozens of British personnel. There are not believed to have been any British casualties.
Hours later, after nightfall, another Shahed drone slammed into a 37-floor residential tower block in Bahrain.
Extraordinary video footage showed a huge fireball erupting towards the top of the high-rise, with debris scattering and falling onto the surrounding area below.
Meanwhile, 500 miles away in Dubai, home to more than 240,000 Britons, Iranian missiles and drones rained down on luxury hotels and shopping areas.
One projectile landed near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
