Israel declares nationwide emergency after strikes on Tehran
The announcement comes as West Jerusalem carried out what it described as a preemptive attack on the Iranian capital
Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency following what officials have described as a preemptive strike on Tehran, amid fears of retaliation.
The announcement came shortly after Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF had conducted what he called a pre-emptive strike against Iran, highlighting that retaliatory missile and drone attacks against Israel are expected in the near future.
In the last few minutes, sirens sounded across the country, accompanied by advance alerts sent directly to mobile devices, instructing residents to remain near protected spaces, the IDF said.
New Home Front Command guidelines have been issued in Israel, banning educational activities, public gatherings and workplace attendance, with exceptions only for essential services. The military stressed that the proactive alert is intended to prepare the public for the potential launch of missiles at Israel.
Early Saturday, local media cited Katz as saying the strike was intended “to remove threats against the State of Israel.”
A senior defense official told Israeli Channel 13 that “this is a joint Israeli-American attack” which the sides had been planning “for months.” A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, later confirmed to the WSJ that the American military was involved in the operation.
Israeli Channel 12 claimed that the strikes were aimed at “dozens of regime targets,” with unconfirmed media reports suggesting that one of the attacks had been launched at an Iranian presidential facility.
Video circulating on social media shows two large plumes of smoke rising over buildings in the Iranian capital.
Three explosions occurred in Tehran, according to the local news agency Fars. Mehr reports that several rockets landed on University Street and in the Jomhouri district. This is a central square in Tehran, near the residence of Iran’s leaders — Sa’dabad Palace.
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