Israel attacks Iran - Iran: Chief of the Revolutionary Guard killed

• Israel has attacked Iran (entry 2:57 a.m.)
• Israel subsequently declared a state of emergency (3:05 a.m.)
• The US denies any involvement in the attack (3:15 a.m.)
• Iran: Chief of the Revolutionary Guard killed in attack (3:59 a.m.)
• Iran announces harsh retaliation (5:03 and 5:13 a.m.)

5:13 a.m.: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens Israel with retaliation in response to the major nighttime attack. Israel must expect "severe punishment," the religious leader was quoted as saying in a statement from his office.

Israel has "exposed its evil nature more than ever before" through attacks on residential areas, the statement continued. Khamenei also confirmed the deaths of several commanders and scientists who had become "martyrs."

Khamenei is the political and spiritual leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and has the final say in all strategic matters.

5:03 a.m.: Following the Israeli attack against Iran, which hit several of the country's nuclear facilities, the Iranian military has announced a "strong response." The armed forces will "certainly respond to this Zionist attack," General Staff Spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi said on Friday. Israel will "pay a heavy price" and should expect a "strong response from the Iranian armed forces."

4:59 a.m.: Iran's capital Tehran has been rocked by a second wave of explosions. Air defenses have been activated, state television reported. Further details were not immediately available.

4:49 a.m.: Following Israel's attacks against Iran, the country's army chief has warned the population about possible Iranian retaliatory attacks. He "cannot promise absolute success," Samir said on Israeli television. "The Iranian regime will try to attack us, and the expected toll will be different from what we are used to." The army chief called the attacks on Iran a "historic campaign, the likes of which have never been seen before."

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel is at a "critical juncture" in its conflict with its arch-enemy Iran. "This is a pivotal moment in the history of the State of Israel and in the history of the Jewish people," Katz said in a statement. Iran is "more determined than ever to realize its vision of Israel's destruction." If Israel misses the "critical juncture," "we will have no way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons that would endanger our own existence," he said.

4:38 a.m.: Iran has closed its airspace following the major Israeli attack. The order is in effect until further notice, according to a statement from the national aviation authority. Residents have been instructed not to travel to the airports and to check the media for further information. Operations at the capital's airport in Tehran had already been suspended.

3:59 a.m.: The commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards was killed in a major Israeli attack in Iran . Major General Hussein Salami was killed in an attack on the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards' Supreme Command, reported the Tasnim news agency, which is considered the mouthpiece of Iran's elite armed forces. Until recently, Salami was considered one of the most powerful men in the Islamic Republic.

According to unconfirmed Iranian media reports, Chief of General Staff Mohammed Bagheri was also targeted. However, the state news agency IRNA stated that he was unharmed in a command center.

The Tasnim news agency confirmed the killing of two well-known nuclear scientists. Both Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi, a professor of physics, and Fereydun Abbasi, the former head of Iran's nuclear program, were killed in the attack, according to the news agency.

3:51 a.m.: Iranian media is showing images of destroyed building facades in Tehran. Videos show rescue workers searching for people buried under rubble. A state television reporter said he has already seen several fatalities. Smoke is rising from the Natanz nuclear facility in the center of the Islamic Republic, state television reported.

Dozens of fighter jets have completed "the first phase" of the operation, the Israeli military announced on Telegram. Dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets, were attacked in various regions of Iran, it said.

The dispute over Iran's nuclear program had recently escalated. The military operation was launched "to push back the Iranian threat to Israel's survival," Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in the recorded speech.

3:15 a.m.: According to government officials, the US is not involved in the Israeli attack on Iran . The US's top priority is protecting its own troops and facilities in the region, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a press release issued by the White House. Addressing Tehran, he emphasized: "Let me be clear: Iran should not attack US facilities or US personnel."

Israel launched the attack unilaterally and informed the US government that it viewed the move as necessary self-defense. "We are not involved in the attacks on Iran, and our top priority is protecting American troops in the region," Rubio continued.

3:05 a.m.: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared a state of emergency in his country. Following a "preemptive strike" against Iran, a missile and drone attack on Israel is to be expected "in the immediate future," Katz said overnight, according to the "Times of Israel."

2:57 a.m.: Israel has begun its expected attack on Iran's nuclear facilities . The operation is "a preemptive, precise, combined offensive" to attack Iran's nuclear program and other military targets, the military announced overnight.

Loud explosions were reported from the Iranian capital Tehran. "This operation will last as many days as it takes to eliminate this threat," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address.