FLASH
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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not in Tehran, an Iranian official told Reuters. He claimed he has been moved to a safe location.
The attack launched on Saturday morning comes after repeated US-Israeli warnings that they would attack if Iran continued with its nuclear and ballistic programs and a deal was not reached.
"The State of Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran to eliminate threats to the State of Israel," said Defense Minister Israel Katz.
An Israeli defense official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington and that the launch date had been set several weeks ago.
Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, and sirens were heard across Israel at around 8:15 a.m. local time, in what the military called a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of a missile attack.
The Israeli military announced the closure of schools and workplaces, with the exception of essential sectors, and a ban on public airspace. Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights and the airports authority urged the public not to go to any of the country's airports.
The US and Iran resumed negotiations in February in an attempt to resolve the decades-old dispute through diplomacy and avoid the threat of a military confrontation that could destabilize the region.
However, Israel insisted that any US deal with Iran must include dismantling Tehran's nuclear infrastructure, not just halting the enrichment process, and lobbied Washington to include restrictions on Iran's missile program in the talks.
Iran said it was willing to discuss restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, but ruled out linking the issue to missiles.
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