Iran has struck back at Israel over its attacks on Iranian military and nuclear targets, firing multiple waves of ballistic missiles into the country.
Warning sirens sounded across Israel and explosions were heard above Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where plumes of smoke rose above the city skyline just after 9pm on Friday, local time (4am Saturday AEST).
Israel said its Iron Dome defence system intercepted many of the missiles. The US military also helped shoot down missiles heading towards Israel, two US officials told the Reuters news agency.
The Israeli military said rescue teams were operating at a number of locations across the country where projectiles had fallen.
Three Israeli citizens have been killed and dozens injured since Iran's retaliatory strikes began on Friday, according to local authorities.
Meanwhile, Iran's Fars news agency reported that two projectiles hit Tehran's Mehrabad airport. AFP reported that fire and heavy smoke was seen billowing from the airport following a blast in the area.
The rapidly escalating conflict has ignited global fears of a devastating new war in the region. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting at Tehran's request.
The missile barrages represented the second retaliatory attack since Israel struck more than 200 sites across Iran on Friday, including the country's two major nuclear facilities, killing military leaders and nuclear scientists.
Iran said the strikes represented a declaration of war. Its envoy to the UN, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said 78 people had been killed and 320 injured, mostly civilians.
Israel's UN envoy, Danny Danon, said intelligence confirmed Iran could have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs within days.
The first wave of retaliatory attacks saw Iran launch dozens of drones towards Israel, though most were intercepted well before they entered Israeli airspace.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel had started a war, and it would not be allowed to do "hit and run" attacks without grave consequences.
"The Zionist regime [Israel] will not remain unscathed from the consequences of its crime," he said in a statement. "The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured."
The United States has been urging Iran to come back to the negotiating table after Friday's strikes, which US President Donald Trump said America had prior knowledge of.
During a blitz of media interviews, Mr Trump described Israel's strikes as "very successful", and said "maybe now they [Iran] will negotiate seriously".
"We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death," he told Reuters.
"I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out.
"They can still work out a deal however, it's not too late."
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said the Australian government is "deeply concerned" by the escalation in tensions in the Middle East.
"We are calling on all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy," Marles said in a press conference.
"We specifically call on Iran to exercise restraint in their actions so as not to risk any broader conflict."
He has confirmed all Australian embassy staff in both Tehran and Tel Aviv are accounted for and safe.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet an Iranian delegation for talks in Oman on Sunday. It would be the sixth round of negotiations over a possible deal to halt Iran's progress towards building a possible nuclear weapon.
But Mr Trump told Reuters he was now unsure if they would take place.
He said it was unclear if Iran still had a nuclear program after Israel's strikes on the country, and he was not concerned about a regional war breaking out.
Later on Friday, a White House official said Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had spoken amid the escalating conflict.
Strikes follow nuclear warning
Israel's initial strikes blasted Iran's huge underground nuclear site, wiped out its entire top echelon of military commanders and killed nuclear scientists in the biggest ever direct attack between the foes.
Iran said "the gates of hell will open" in retaliation, while Mr Netanyahu said the strikes were only the start of Israel's campaign.
"Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," Mr Netanyahu said early on Friday in a televised address that invoked the failure of the world to prevent the Holocaust in World War Two.
Israel's operation "will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," he said. "Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future."
Iranian media reported that an Israeli fighter jet was downed during the strikes, and its pilot was detained. The Israeli military denied the report.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed military activity around Iran's two main nuclear enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordo.
[map]He said the above-ground enrichment plant at the Natanz site was destroyed, but its underground enrichment halls hadn't been affected. There was radiological and chemical contamination at the Natanz plant, but it was manageable, he said.
The smaller Fordo site is buried under a mountain and is considered a more difficult target.
Shortly after the strikes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel acted alone, without US involvement. "Israel took unilateral action against Iran," Mr Rubio said.
Mr Trump had earlier said such strikes were likely, but that he did not want Israel to take military action while the US was trying to negotiate a deal with Iran.
The strikes followed a UN watchdog finding that Iran was not complying with its "non-proliferation" obligations, designed to prevent it building nuclear weaponry. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
French president Emmanuel Macron said Iran bore a "very heavy responsibility for the destabilisation of the region", and warned there was now a "risk of uncontrolled escalation".
Military decapitation
Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed in Israel's strikes. That would be a stunning decapitation of the military, reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon's once-feared Hezbollah militia last year.
Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, who was swiftly promoted as Guards commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the Supreme Leader read out on state television: "The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime."
Twenty people Reuters spoke to inside Iran described an atmosphere of fear and anger, with some people rushing to change money and others seeking a way out of the country to safety.
"People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic, we were all terrified," said Marziyeh, 39, who was awakened by a huge blast in Natanz, a city that houses the huge underground facility where Iran purifies the uranium that Israel said could be used to make a nuclear bomb.
While some Iranians quietly hoped the attack would lead to changes in Iran's hardline clerical leadership, others vowed to rally behind the authorities.
"I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear program. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks," said Ali, a member of the pro-government Basij militia in Qom.
Israel said that Iran had launched around 100 drones towards Israeli territory in retaliation on Friday. But Iran denied this and there were no reports of any drones reaching Israeli targets.
Iran said in a letter to the UN Security Council that it would respond decisively and proportionally to Israel's "unlawful" and "cowardly" acts.
Iran's ability to retaliate with weapons fired by its regional proxies has been degraded over the past year, with the downfall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Reuters/ABC
