Iran attacks LIVE: ‘Surrender or die’: Trump launches blitz on Iran and vows to free nation from Islamic dictatorship

Sirens have sounded across northern Israel in the last few minutes as the IDF warns of an imminent missile attack.

Israelis have been told to go to shelters as the military says it is working to intercept missiles.

‘At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat,’ the IDF said in a statement.

Both Iran and Israel have closed their airspaces to commercial flights this morning after the launch of major attacks on Tehran.

It is not known how long they will remain closed.

The United States and Israel have launched a daylight missile attack on Iran as Donald Trump declared he will ‘raze their missile industry to the ground’.

The US president warned there may be ‘US casualties’ but said the ‘objective is to defend the American people by eliminating the imminent threats from the Iranian regime’.

The first strike, which follows weeks of knife-edge tensions building up between the two countries, happened near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

However, officials said the 86-year-old, who has not been seen in public for days, is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.

There are also unverified reports that others locations in Iran including Isfahan, the third largest city, and Tabriz have been hit.

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Justifying the launch of ‘major combat operations’ in Iran this morning, US President Donald Trump claimed the country’s ‘menacing activities’ are putting America at risk.

In his lengthy statement today, he said that Tehran’s ‘menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world’.

‘For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed.’

He added: ‘Our objective is to the defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.

‘Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.’

‘We sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried,’ Trump said.

The US has launched ‘major combat operations’ in Iran, President Donald Trump has said, as he hit out at the nation’s ‘wicked, radical dictatorship’.

In an eight-minute video published on Truth Social, Trump added: ‘We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missiles industry to the ground, it will be totally again, obliterated.

‘We are going to annihilate their navy, we are going to ensure the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world.’

He continued: ‘An attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or their roadside bombs to so gravely wound and kill so thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It is a very simple message: they will never have a nuclear weapon.

‘This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the US armed forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration, and there is no military even close to its power, strength or sophistication.

‘My administration has taken every possible step to minimise risk to US personnel in the region; even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill.

‘The lives of courageous  American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties, that often happens in war, but we are doing this not for now, but we are doing it for the future, and it is a noble mission.’

The first images from Iran this morning show smoke rising above Tehran, as blasts have been heard in at least five major cities.

Iran’s state media has confirmed explosions in the capital, as well as Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah.

There are at least two explosion sites in Tehran, it is reported.

Israel launched a ‘pre-emptive attack’ against Iran a short while ago, with explosions heard in Tehran and other major cities.

In a statement this morning, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a ‘special and permanent state of emergency’ across Israel.

US President Donald Trump confirmed his nation’s involvement in the strikes in a video on Truth Social shortly afterwards.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live blog, following the launch of attacks on Iran by Israel and the US this morning.

We will bring you all the latest updates as we get them.