Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says Tehran’s response to Israel’s attack will not not be ‘half measured’.
Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles towards Israel in retaliation for a major attack on Tehran’s nuclear sites.
Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded across Israel on Friday night. This follows an unprecedented attack by Israel in the early hours of Friday, which targeted Iranian nuclear sites, senior military commanders and scientists.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel’s strikes had “initiated a war” and it would not be allowed to do “hit and run” attacks without consequences.
“The Zionist regime [Israel] will not remain unscathed from the consequences of its crime. The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured,” Khamenei said in a statement.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Iran “carried out its crushing and precise response against dozens of targets, military centres and airbases” in Israel at the command of Supreme Leader Khamenei.
Three separate waves of attacks were launched at Israel on Friday night, Iranian state news agency IRNA said.
At least one projectile impacted central Tel Aviv, said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan.
A modern apartment block was hit in central Tel Aviv, and according to live footage from the scene, fires raged inside some of the apartments, with smoke billowing from the building.
Another residential building, next to the apartment block, also appeared to have suffered significant damage, with windows blown and pieces of twisted metal hanging from its exterior.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing emergency services, said 15 people have been wounded in central Israel, with one in moderate condition.
The Israeli public has been instructed to remain in shelters.
Israel’s attacks on Iran killed several top Iranian generals and scientists, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major-General Mohammed Bagheri, and the IRGC chief, Hossein Salami.
However, Major-General Mohammed Pakpour was swiftly promoted to replace Salami.
In a letter to Khamenei read out on state television, Pakpour promised that “the gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime”, referring to Israel.
During Israel’s surprise attack in the early hours of Friday, its military said it had struck more than 200 targets across Iran.
Before Iran’s retaliatory strikes, Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier-General Effie Defrin told journalists that Israel’s army was “continuing to strike”.
“Iran has the ability to significantly harm the Israeli home front”, Defrin told a televised news conference that was cut short due to what the army said was an incoming attack.
The army also urged citizens to stick close to “protected spaces” and avoid public gatherings amid a potential Iranian attack on Israel.
In a statement earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected “several waves of Iranian attacks”.