Israel launches strikes on Iran: what we know so far ::::: US washed off its hands ... "Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes"

 Israel has launched an attack on Iran aimed at “dozens” of targets, including its nuclear facilities.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio said the US was not involved in the strikes. 

“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defence.”

Iran state media said five people had been killed and 20 wounded.

World leaders have voiced concern over the strikes. New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said that the Israeli airstrikes on Iran was a “really unwelcome development”. Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the government was “alarmed”.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attack, dubbed Rising Lion, would take “many days” and was aimed at “rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”. He suggested the operation could be long and difficult, saying “Israeli citizens may have to remain in sheltered areas for lengthy periods of time.”

Netanyahu said one target was the Natanz nuclear facility, a key site for uranium enrichment.

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, announced a “special situation” in Israel after the country launched the strikes and said Israel expected retaliation.

Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defence units stood at high alert.

Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami has been killed in the strikes and the unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit. The Revolutionary Guards said Israel will pay a heavy price for its attack.

State TV is reporting that nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were also killed.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel will receive a harsh punishment after its attack on Iran early on Friday. He confirmed that several commanders and scientists were killed in the attacks – and warned that Israel had “prepared a bitter fate for itself.”

Iran’s foreign ministry said the US – as Israel’s main supporter - will be held responsible for the consequences of “Israel’s adventurism.” In a statement, the ministry said the Israeli attack “exposes global security to unprecedented threat” and calls on the international community to condemn it.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations has said Israel has an ongoing dialogue with the United States but its determination to strike Iran was an independent Israeli decision.

Donald Trump has said that Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and that the United States was hoping to get back to the negotiating table, in an interview with a Fox News following the start of Israeli airstrikes on Iran. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin quoted Trump as saying in a post on X.

For now, the White House is – publicly – separating itself from the military action, trying to signal they mean to stay out of this fight for the moment. We saw a similar dynamic last year when Israel widened the conflict in the region, while the US attempted to contain the fallout, help defend Israel, but crucially not to get dragged in itself.

In the hours before Thursday's attacks, US officials were briefing that there would be no American support in the event of Israeli action, even going as far as to say they would not help with any aerial refuelling.