JERUSALEM (AP) – An explosion has boomed across Tehran as Israel attacked Iran’s capital early on Friday, saying Israel targeted nuclear and military sites.
The attack comes as tensions have been reached in Tehran’s rapidly moving forward nuclear programme. On Thursday, for the first time in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Governor’s Committee accused Iran of not working with its inspectors. Iran soon announced that it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and replace several centrifuges with more advanced ones.
For years, Israel has warned that Iran will not allow it to build nuclear weapons. Tehran claims he doesn’t want it. The United States is preparing to happen, already pulling diplomats from the Iraqi capital, providing voluntary evacuation to the broader Middle Eastern US military families.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a YouTube speech that the attacks will continue “to take many times to remove this threat.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel had carried out “unilateral actions against Iran” and that Israel advised the United States that it believes its strike is necessary for self-defense.
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our number one priority is to protect the US troops in the region,” Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.
Rubio also warned Iran that we should not target our interests or personnel.
The Tehranian people were woken up to the sound of an explosion. State television confirmed the explosion.
It was not immediately clear what was hit, but smoke could rise from Chitgers in a nearby western Tehran. Although there are no known nuclear sites in that area, it was not immediately clear whether anything was happening in other parts of the country.
Israeli military officials say his country has targeted Iran’s nuclear sites without identifying them.
The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity and discussed the ongoing operation.
Benchmark Brent crude oil surged into attacks, rising nearly 5% on the news.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he attacked without saying that his country had targeted it.
“As a result of Israel’s preventive attacks on Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilians are expected soon,” he said in a statement.
The statement added that Katz has “signed a special order declaring a state of emergency at homefront.”
“It is essential to listen to Homefront commands and instructions from the authorities to stay in protected areas,” he said.
Both Iran and Israel have closed airspace.
As the explosion began in Tehran, President Donald Trump was on the White House lawn mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed, but the president continued to wave and posed for photos for a few minutes.
Trump previously said he has urged Netanyahu not to take action for the time being while negotiating with Iran.
“I don’t want them to come in because as long as I think there’s a (opportunity) contract, I think it’s going to be blown away,” Trump told reporters.
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