Israel has launched unprecedented attack against Iran and has declared a state of emergency as it braces for retaliation

According to the Israeli military a “pre-emptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence” had been launched –the attack involving dozens of airstrikes was called Operation Rising Lion.

In a statements the IDF said: “Dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel that it “must expect severe punishment”

US secretary of state Marco Rubio says America was not involved and that Israel believes the strikes are necessary for its self defence.

Sky News reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel‘s very survival” and would last for “as many days as it takes to remove the threat”.

Iranian state media reported the head of the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, had been killed.

Nuclear scientist Fereydoun Abbasi and theoretical physicist Dr Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi were also reported to have died by Mehr News.

State media reported explosions northeast of capital Tehran early on Friday, and said buildings belonging to the armed forces were hit in the Mahalati complex north of the city.

The country’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned of “severe punishment” and claimed residential areas had been targeted.

“In the enemy’s attacks, a number of commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will immediately continue their duties,” said a statement reported by the Tasnim news agency.

The international atomic watchdog, the IAEA, said Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz – in central Isfahan province – was one of the facilities targeted and that it’s in contact with Iranian authorities about radiation levels.

The exact locations of the other sites attacked are still to be confirmed

A “special state of emergency” is now in effect in Israel, said its defence minister, who warned a “missile and drone attack… is expected in the immediate future”.