Iranian missiles shake Gulf states after US and Israel strike Tehran

Iran has retaliated by launching missiles and drones across the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched strikes aimed at forcing regime change in the Islamic republic.

Donald Trump called on Iranians to "rise up" against their rulers as he confirmed on Saturday, in the biggest foreign policy gamble of his presidency, that America and Israel had begun joint and "ongoing" military action against Iran.

Tehran called the strikes, which began in the morning hours and hit targets in different areas of the country, unprovoked and illegal.

In the first wave of strikes, the compound of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was targeted.

In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were signs Iran's leader "is no longer" after the strike, but could not confirm his death.

"There are many signs that this tyrant is no longer," he said. "This morning we eliminated senior officials in the ayatollah's regime, Revolutionary Guards commanders, senior figures in the nuclear program — and we will continue."

He went on to call on Iranians to "take to the streets en masse" and "get the job done" to oust the government.

His statement was in conflict with Iran's foreign ministry, which has said Ayatollah Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both "safe and sound".

In cities across Iran, explosions caused widespread panic. Residents rushed to collect children from school and flee areas that might be targeted.

Iran responded by launching missiles at Israel and several Gulf Arab allies of the United States that host American bases.

Iran issued a warning to shipping that the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which around a fifth of global oil consumption passes, had been closed. Traders expected a sharp jump in oil prices. Airlines cancelled flights in the Middle East.

Tehran promised a stronger response to come, with a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Ebrahim Jabbari, saying it had so far used only "scrap missiles" and would soon unveil unforeseen weapons.

The UN Security Council was due to meet in New York on Saturday, local time. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Israel's military said its pilots had hit hundreds of targets throughout Iran including strategic defence systems already damaged in strikes last year. It said three sites where leaders had been meeting were struck simultaneously, and several senior figures were killed.

Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour were killed in the Israeli attacks, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The first wave of strikes in what the Pentagon named Operation Epic Fury mainly targeted Iranian officials, a source said.

An Iranian source close to the establishment said several senior commanders in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and political officials had been killed.

In addition, a girls primary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab was hit, killing 85 people, according to the local prosecutor cited by state media.

Trump says 'bombs will be dropping everywhere'

In a video message published on social media, Mr Trump cited Washington's decades-old dispute with Iran and attacks dating to the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran during the 1979 Islamic revolution that brought the clerics to power.

The president said the aim was "eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime" and urged Iranians to stay sheltered because "bombs will be dropping everywhere".

"When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations," he added.

Mr Netanyahu said the joint US-Israeli attack "will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands" and "remove the yoke of tyranny".

Iran's clerical leaders were already in a difficult position after mass anti-government demonstrations in January, which led to a crackdown in which thousands of people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since the era of the 1979 revolution.

Protesters had again taken to the streets in recent days in remembrance of those killed the previous month.

Israeli military operations over the past two years killed some of Iran's senior military officials and severely weakened several of Tehran's once-feared proxy forces across the Middle East.

After Israel pounded Iran in a 12-day air war last June joined by the United States, the US and Israel had warned they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The threats were backed up in recent weeks by a US military build-up in the region, even as Iranian and US officials held nuclear talks.

Missiles fired at Gulf states

Oil markets have been closely watching the stand-off between Washington and Tehran to try and determine if supplies will be impacted.

Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, predicted prices could shoot up by $US10-20 per barrel when markets opened on Monday unless there were signs of de-escalation.

Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), pumps about 4 per cent of global oil supplies, and a far larger share is shipped past its coast through the strait leading out of the Gulf.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran's reach and that Iran's retaliation would continue until "the enemy is decisively defeated".

In Israel, sirens and mobile phone warnings sent Israelis rushing to air raid shelters as Iran launched a series of missile barrages. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.

Loud booms sounded in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, an oil producer and close US ally, and several blasts were heard in the business capital Dubai, where one of the city's plush hotel districts was also hit.

Bahrain said the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet — the base for American naval forces in the region — had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the island state's coastline.

Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country and that it had a right to respond. Kuwait confirmed a missile attack on a US military base there.