Israel launched what it called a “pre-emptive strike” on Iran as air-raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Israelis received mobile alerts warning of an “extremely serious” threat, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.
“The State of Israel has launched a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a special and immediate state of emergency throughout the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
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An Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was preparing for retaliation and vowed a “crushing” response. A separate source told Reuters that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not in Tehran and had been moved to a secure location.
An Israeli defense official said the operation was coordinated with the United States, had been planned for months and was greenlit a week ago. CNN, citing a U.S. official, reported that U.S. strikes on Iran were focused on military targets.
In Tehran, AFP journalists reported two loud blasts early Saturday and saw plumes of thick smoke over the center and east of the capital. The semi-official Fars news agency said “the type of explosions suggests that this is a missile attack,” without providing further immediate details.
Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said the nation’s airspace was shut “until further notice,” according to the Tasnim news agency, after multiple blasts were reported in Tehran and elsewhere.
On Israel’s home front, the Jerusalem municipality ordered schools and most workplaces closed through Monday following the strikes. “In accordance with the assessment of the situation by the Home Front Command and the launch of a preemptive strike against Iran, it has been decided to change the guidelines and transition from full activity to essential activity throughout the country,” the municipality said. “There will be no educational activities, no gatherings, and no going to work, except for workers defined as essential. This policy is in effect from Saturday (2/28) at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) until Monday (3/2) at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).”
The exchange comes after Israel and Iran engaged in a 12-day air war in June and amid repeated U.S.-Israeli warnings that they would act again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
In Washington, the United States designated Iran a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” the first such move under a new blacklist that could ultimately lead to a U.S. travel ban. “The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and associated actions,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. He warned that if Iran made no progress, the United States could decide to invalidate U.S. passports for travel to Iran. The State Department urged Americans in Iran to leave immediately.
The designation stems from an executive order signed in September by President Donald Trump that created the wrongful-detention blacklist; Iran is the first country placed on it. The United States already bars travel by its citizens to North Korea.
Separately, Trump said he opposed any Iranian uranium enrichment, including for civilian purposes, and expressed dissatisfaction with ongoing negotiations. Oman said that during recent talks Iran agreed never to stockpile enriched uranium — a step Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi described on CBS’ “Face the Nation” as a breakthrough that would make the enrichment issue “less relevant” by preventing accumulation of material needed to build a bomb.
As regional tensions spiked Saturday, crowds jammed streets in Tehran amid reports of blasts, and Israeli authorities tightened restrictions at home. Both countries signaled the confrontation could widen quickly if the night’s exchanges escalate into direct retaliation.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
