Iran assaults LIVE: ‘Surrender or die’: Trump launches blitz on Iran and vows to free nation from Islamic dictatorship

The exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has urged people in Iran to prepare to return to the streets following the launch of military action by the US and Israel.

He claimed the Islamic Republic is ‘collapsing’ and called on the military to break with the clerical regime.

Addressing security forces directly, Pahlavi said they had sworn to defend Iran and its people, not the Islamic Republic, warning they would ‘sink’ with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei if they failed to switch sides.

He described the US action as a ‘humanitarian intervention’ targeting the regime’s repression apparatus rather than the Iranian nation, and appealed to President Donald Trump to exercise maximum caution to avoid civilian casualties.

Israel’s military has just now claimed that an ‘additional barrage’ of missiles has been launched towards the country by Iran.

It said it had first identified warheads launched from Tehran in a statement at 8.10am UK time.

It said then: ‘Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat. In the past few minutes, the Home Front Command has sent a precautionary directive directly to mobile phones in the relevant areas.’

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Iran ‘must not be armed with nuclear weapons’ and that Israel will ‘remove the existential threat’ posed by Iran.

In a statement released just now, he said: ‘My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short time ago, Israel and the United States embarked on an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.

‘I thank our great friend, President Donald Trump, for his historic leadership. For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has been shouting ‘Death to Israel,’ ‘Death to America.’

‘It has spilled our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people. This murderous terrorist regime must not be armed with nuclear weapons that would allow it to threaten all of humanity. Our joint action will create the conditions for the courageous Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.

‘The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people – the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baluchis, and the Ahwazis – to throw off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peaceful Iran.

‘I appeal to you, the citizens of Israel, to listen to the instructions of the Home Front Command. In the coming days, in Operation ‘The Roar of the Lion,’ we will all be required to have endurance and fortitude.

‘Together we will stand, together we will fight, and together we will ensure the eternity of Israel.’

Sirens have sounded across northern Israel in the last few minutes as the IDF warns of an imminent missile attack.

Israelis have been told to go to shelters as the military says it is working to intercept missiles.

‘At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat,’ the IDF said in a statement.

Both Iran and Israel have closed their airspaces to commercial flights this morning after the launch of major attacks on Tehran.

It is not known how long they will remain closed.

The United States and Israel have launched a daylight missile attack on Iran as Donald Trump declared he will ‘raze their missile industry to the ground’.

The US president warned there may be ‘US casualties’ but said the ‘objective is to defend the American people by eliminating the imminent threats from the Iranian regime’.

The first strike, which follows weeks of knife-edge tensions building up between the two countries, happened near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

However, officials said the 86-year-old, who has not been seen in public for days, is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.

There are also unverified reports that others locations in Iran including Isfahan, the third largest city, and Tabriz have been hit.

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Justifying the launch of ‘major combat operations’ in Iran this morning, US President Donald Trump claimed the country’s ‘menacing activities’ are putting America at risk.

In his lengthy statement today, he said that Tehran’s ‘menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world’.

‘For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed.’

He added: ‘Our objective is to the defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.

‘Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.’

‘We sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried,’ Trump said.

The US has launched ‘major combat operations’ in Iran, President Donald Trump has said, as he hit out at the nation’s ‘wicked, radical dictatorship’.

In an eight-minute video published on Truth Social, Trump added: ‘We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missiles industry to the ground, it will be totally again, obliterated.

‘We are going to annihilate their navy, we are going to ensure the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world.’

He continued: ‘An attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or their roadside bombs to so gravely wound and kill so thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It is a very simple message: they will never have a nuclear weapon.

‘This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the US armed forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration, and there is no military even close to its power, strength or sophistication.

‘My administration has taken every possible step to minimise risk to US personnel in the region; even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill.

‘The lives of courageous  American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties, that often happens in war, but we are doing this not for now, but we are doing it for the future, and it is a noble mission.’

The first images from Iran this morning show smoke rising above Tehran, as blasts have been heard in at least five major cities.

Iran’s state media has confirmed explosions in the capital, as well as Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah.

There are at least two explosion sites in Tehran, it is reported.

Israel launched a ‘pre-emptive attack’ against Iran a short while ago, with explosions heard in Tehran and other major cities.

In a statement this morning, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a ‘special and permanent state of emergency’ across Israel.

US President Donald Trump confirmed his nation’s involvement in the strikes in a video on Truth Social shortly afterwards.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live blog, following the launch of attacks on Iran by Israel and the US this morning.

We will bring you all the latest updates as we get them.