Dubai, Feb 28: The United States and Israel launched an attack on Saturday on Iran, with the first apparent strike happening near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital.
President Donald Trump said in a video posted on social media that the US had begun ìmajor combat operations in Iran.î
He claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear programme and plans to develop missiles to reach the US.
Two people familiar with the operation, including a US official and a person briefed on the attacks, said the targets of the Israeli strikes included members of Iran’s leadership.
There was no word on whether the attacks had been successful.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information on an ongoing operation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Saturday morning and planned to hold calls with allies in the coming hours.
ìWe do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict,î a UK government spokesperson said, reiterating Britain’s support for a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Britain was not involved in the US-Israeli strikes.
The UK’s Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to warn against all travel to Israel and Palestine, and urged British nationals in other Middle Eastern countries to ìimmediately shelter in place.î
In northern Tehran, supermarkets are seeing a surge of customers seeking bread and bottled water. However, supply has been limited, and some of the items most in demand ó including bread, eggs, bottled water and milk ó are currently unavailable in certain stores.
Long queues have also been observed at gas stations across the city.
State television showed footage from one of Tehran’s highways, Soleimani highway, where extremely heavy traffic was visible on west-to-east routes.
Kuwait’s national news agency says the Gulf country’s air defences successfully repelled what it called a ìheinous Iranian attackî earlier in the day.
Quoting a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the KUNA news agency said Kuwait maintains its right to defend itself.
Kuwait Airways, meanwhile, says it is temporarily suspending flights in and out of the country.
Smoke rose from a US base near the airport in Irbil, the regional capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, on Saturday, and an Associated Press journalist in the area heard explosions. Local media reported that missiles were shot down. There was no immediate statement from Iraqi officials or from the US.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias had previously threatened to strike targets in the Kurdish region in case of an attack on Iran. Earlier Saturday, a drone strike targeted a headquarters of the Iran-allied Kataib Hezbollah militia southwest of Baghdad, killing two.
European Union leaders issued a joint statement Saturday calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in hopes of ìensuring nuclear safety.î
ìEnsuring nuclear safety and preventing any actions that could further escalate tensions or undermine the global non-proliferation regime is of critical importance,î said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President AntÛnio Costa. ìWe call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law.”
Both said that the EU has pushed to resolve critical issues through diplomacy, but also has in place ìextensive sanctions in response to the actions of Iran’s murderous regime and the Revolutionary Guards.î
They said Brussels was working with the EU’s 27 member nations to support the bloc’s citizens in the Middle East.
