The Israeli military has begun airstrikes against Iran, two U.S. officials said Thursday evening, a dramatic escalation that increased the chances of an all-out war between the countries and expanding the long-running regional conflict.
There is no U.S. involvement or assistance, the officials said.
Israel confirmed it had launched a strike on Iran, and declared a state of emergency early Friday local time.
“Following the State of Israel’s pre-emptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement early Friday local time.
The move appeared to be a significant break with the Trump administration, which has been in talks with Tehran on a possible nuclear deal and argued against such a step.
The administration appeared to distance itself from Israel’s choice to strike Iran, saying the country took “unilateral action.”
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
He said Israeli officials had communicated to Washington that Israel’s action was “necessary for its self-defense.”
“President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” Rubio said.
Israel became more serious about attacking Iran as negotiations between the United States and Iran appeared closer to a preliminary agreement that included provisions about uranium enrichment that Israel views as unacceptable.
The country said in a statement it took specific aim at Iran’s nuclear program in Friday’s attacks.
“The IDF launched a preemptive, precise, combined offensive to strike Iran’s nuclear program,” the Israeli statement said, adding that dozens of IAF jets were used in stage one, which “included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.”
“Today, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the statement continued. “Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world.”
Israel said it “has no choice but to fulfill the obligation to act in defense of its citizens and will continue to do so everywhere it is required to do so, as we have done in the past.”
In spoken remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that sentiment and said his country launched “a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”
“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” he said.
A big worry for the U.S. is Iran retaliating against American personnel or assets in the region. Officials earlier announced the voluntary departure of nonessential employees, and the Defense Department announced the voluntary departure of military families from across the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
The Trump administration had ordered all embassies within striking distance of Iran’s missiles, aircraft and other assets (including missions in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe) to send cables with assessments about danger and about measures to mitigate risks to Americans and U.S. infrastructure, two sources told NBC News this week.
Earlier this week, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, formally found that Iran isn’t complying with its nuclear obligations for the first time in 20 years.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.