As sirens rang in Jerusalem and people nationwide received phone alerts about a “extremely serious” threat, Israel’s defence minister declared a “preemptive strike” on Iran on Saturday.
“A preemptive strike against Iran has been undertaken by the State of Israel.
“Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a special and immediate state of emergency throughout the country,” his ministry said in a statement.
“The type of explosions suggests that this is a missile attack,” the Fars news agency said without immediately providing more details after AFP journalists heard two loud explosions in Tehran on Saturday morning and saw two plumes of thick smoke over the center and east of the Iranian capital.
“In response to the security developments, the Minister of Transportation has directed the Director of the Israel Civil Aviation Authority to close the airspace of the State of Israel to civilian flights,” Minister Miri Regev said, announcing the immediate closure of Israel’s airspace to civilian aircraft.
Following several explosions in Tehran and other locations, Iran has also closed its airspace until further notice, according to the country’s civil aviation agency. “The airspace of the entire country is closed until further notice,” the organization’s spokesman said, as reported by Tasnim news agency.
In the meanwhile, staff at the US embassy in Qatar have been ordered to remain in their current location.
