Main Points
- The US and Israel have attacked Iran, following months of rising regional tensions.
- US president Donald Trump said the US military has launched “major combat operations” in Iran, saying the country had attempted to rebuild its nuclear programme.
- Blasts have been heard across multiple Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran and Isfahan, while the IDF reports that Iran has fired missiles towards Israel in response.
- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has promised a “crushing response” to strikes.
- Irish politicians have condemned the strikes on Iran as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for restraint.
‘This is not your war’ - Oman’s foreign minister tells US
Oman’s foreign minister has responded to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, urging the US not to get involved in the regional conflict.
Badr Albusaidi was mediating negotiations between Washington and Tehran earlier this week.
Albusaidi said on X: “I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined.
“Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer.
“I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.”
UAE Irish embassy advises citizens to shelter and avoid unnecessary movement
Given the deterioration of the security situation in the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, Irish citizens have been advised to shelter in place, avoid unnecessary movement and follow the advice of the local authorities.
The Irish embassy in the United Arab Emirates said it is also aware that UAE, Kuwaiti, and Qatari airspace has been temporarily closed.
“Citizens affected are advised to liaise directly with their airlines and follow the guidance provided,” it said.
“We will share any updates as more information becomes available. For Irish citizens affected and concerned family members, please contact the duty officer in Dublin at +353 (0)1 408 2000.”
Iranian state media are reporting that 40 people have been killed after an Israeli air strike hit a girls school in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.
Helen McEntee says she is ‘deeply concerned’ at US-Israeli attack
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee has just repsonded to this morning’s events.
Irish citizens should not undertake travel to Iran, she said, while also advising against travel to Israel.
In a statement, McEntee said: “I am deeply concerned that the US and Israel have decided to launch widespread armed conflict against Iran at this time.
“I am equally dismayed at the Iranian response in recent hours. As was made clear to me on my visit to the region last month, further conflict is profoundly unhelpful and presents challenges which only make already deep divisions more dangerous and unstable and put more lives in the region at risk.
“We had hoped that it would be possible to reach a diplomatic agreement to resolve international concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme. Ireland was a strong supporter of the JCPOA and of subsequent dialogue and diplomacy for this very reason. We urge all parties to return to this path of negotiation.”
The Fine Gael TD said she called on “all sides to de-escalate”.
“We hope also that other states in the region will exercise restraint - a wider conflict will increase regional instability.”
She said there are a small number of Irish citizens in Iran, most of whom have been resident in the country for many years.
“I fully understand the concerns of Irish citizens in the region, and the concerns of their families and friends in Ireland and around the world,” she added.
“Our embassies in the region are actively engaged to support Irish citizens who are affected.”
The travel advice remains that Irish citizens should not undertake travel to Iran.
“We also advise against travel to Israel. Our advice at this time to citizens in the region is to shelter in place,” she said. “You should follow the directions of the local authorities and advice issued on social media by the Irish embassy to your country of residence.”
Embassies in the region are closely monitoring the situation and continuing to provide consular assistance.
Relatives and friends who have queries or concerns about family members in the region to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular team in Dublin at +353 1 4082000.
McEntee said she will remain in close contact with EU and international partners as the situation continues to evolve.
It is unthinkable Taoiseach would go to White House to give shamrock to Trump, says PBP TD
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to unequivocally condemn the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
He has also called for the Taoiseach’s upcoming visit to the White House to be cancelled.
The Dublin South-West TD said: “The United States and Israel have launched a coordinated attack on Iran. This is an unprovoked attack that has no justification.
“We do not want more prevarication and weasel words from the Taoiseach. He must immediately and unreservedly condemn the United States, as well as Israel, for this shocking violence and he must demand that Trump ends this war on Iran.
“It is unthinkable that the Taoiseach would go to the White House shortly to give shamrock to Trump. Our national day cannot be used to whitewash Trump and his wars of aggression.
“It would be a travesty and a national embarrassment. Many will die in this latest atrocity started by Trump. He is a war criminal and the St Patrick’s Day engagement must be cancelled.”
EU aviation safety agency recommends air operators avoid operating in region of ongoing military intervention
The EU aviation safety agency EASA has recommended that air operators avoid operating at all flight levels and altitudes in the region of ongoing military intervention in the Middle East.
In a safety advisory note, EASA said there was a high risk to civil aviation in the region and that the entire affected airspace was vulnerable to spillover risks, misidentification, miscalculation and failure of interception procedures.
The Irish Defence Forces has confirmed that Defence Forces personnel in missions across the Middle East, UNDOF, UNIFIL and UNTSO, are well and accounted for.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation across the region and our personnel remain committed to completing their mandated tasks,” it said on Saturday.
US president Donald Trump has told the Washington Post that his main concern is “freedom” for the Iranian people.
In a brief phone call in the early hours of this morning, he said he wanted Iran to be a place that’s “safe”.
“All I want is freedom for the people,” Trump told the publication, when asked about what he hoped his legacy would be as a result of the operation.
“I want a safe nation, and that’s what we’re going to have.”
One person dead in Abu Dhabi following ‘blatant attack by Iranian ballistic missiles’, says UAE defence ministry
A person has been killed after strikes in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates has confirmed.
The civilian, who is of “Asian nationality”, died after debris fell on a residential area in Abu Dhabi, its defence ministry said in a post on X.
It said several missiles targeting the country had been successfully intercepted following a “blatant attack today by Iranian ballistic missiles”.
Missile interceptions were also reported in Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
UK government says it stands ready to ‘protect our interests’ but does not want to see ‘further escalation’
The UK Government has responded to this morning’s air strikes in Iran. In a statement, it said it stands ready to “protect our interests” but does not want to see “further escalation into a wider regional conflict”.
“Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution,” a UK government spokesperson said.
“Our immediate priority is the safety of UK nationals in the region and we will provide them with consular assistance, available 24/7.
“As part of our long-standing commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East, we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region, which we have recently bolstered. We stand ready to protect our interests.
“We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.”
Dublin Airport has said airspace constraints in the Middle East mean there is potential for flights to and from the region to be disrupted on Saturday.
“As always, passengers should contact their airline directly for updates regarding the status of their flight,” it said.
Ursula von der Leyen calls for all parties to ‘exercise maximum restraint and protect civilians’
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the developments in Iran are “greatly concerning”.
In a statement on X, she said: “We remain in close contact with our partners in the region. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to safeguarding regional security and stability.
“Ensuring nuclear safety and preventing any actions that could further escalate tensions or undermine the global non-proliferation regime is of critical importance.
“The European Union has adopted extensive sanctions in response to the actions of Iran’s murderous regime and the Revolutionary Guards and has consistently promoted diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing the nuclear and ballistic programmes through a negotiated solution.
“In close co-ordination with EU Member States, we will take all necessary steps to ensure that EU citizens in the region can count on our full support.
“We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law.”
Iran’s national security council promises ‘crushing response’
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has promised a “crushing response” following joint US-Israeli air strikes on Iran, noting the attacks occurred “once again during negotiations” with Washington.
It said the “enemy” wrongly assumed the Iranian people would “surrender to their petty demands through such cowardly actions”.
The SNSC said Iran’s armed forces had already begun retaliatory measures and pledged to “continuously keep the dear people informed”.
It warned that operations by the US and Israel could continue in Tehran and other cities, urging citizens, “while maintaining calm”, to travel to safer areas where possible to avoid danger.
The council also reassured the public that the government had “prepared all societal needs in advance” and that there was “no concern regarding the supply of essential goods”, advising people to avoid crowded shopping centres.
Schools and universities will remain closed until further notice, banks will continue services, and government offices will operate at 50 per cent capacity, the SNSC said, adding that further updates would be announced in due course.
Columnist Vincent Durac has some analysis of how we got here. There’ss also an explainer of the key issues that divide the United States and Iran.
‘The feeling is that we are in this for the long haul’ – live reporting from Jerusalem
Journalist Mark Weiss reports from Jerusalem:
We are only three hours into the war and I’ve already lost count of how many times the sirens have sounded here in Jerusalem – four or five so far – and before I can complete this sentence, another one is going off, piercing the tranquil Shabbat morning.
We have relocated to the safe room – one of the bedrooms of the apartment – closing the metal door over the window and the metal door to the room, hoping that this protected space is indeed rocket-proof, if the worst case scenario plays out.
The essentials to bring into the room are water, snacks, your mobile phone and a computer to follow events as they unfold (in the event there is no TV in the safe room).
Residents with a safe room in the home are the lucky ones – others have to head to a public bomb shelter.
It started with an alert at 8.10am local time on our phones from IDF Home Front Command, warning us that Israel was attacking Iran and that we should stay close to a safe room or bomb shelter.
It wasn’t really a surprise: people have been talking about this possibility for weeks, with endless speculation about when it would kick off and whether it would be just the Americans or a joint operation.
Israel’s airspace is closed until further notice. Schools are cancelled and only essential workplaces will be open in the coming days. Celebrations of the Jewish festival of Purim, planned for tomorrow, are cancelled.
Some friends rushed from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to collect their young adult children, who do not have bomb shelters close to their apartments, and bring them back to their home.
The names of the communities under the threat of rocket fire comes up on the TV screen but at this juncture it’s basically the entire country. So we sit tight and wait for the all-clear, the message that it’s safe to leave the protected space. Until the next barrage.
Meanwhile, another siren is sounding. The feeling is that we are in this for the long haul.
The Israel Defense Forces said Iran has fired missiles towards Israel in response to the attack.
In a statement, the IDF said: “Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel.”
The Israeli air force is operating to intercept and strike threats, it added.
Attack will create conditions for Iranians to ‘take their destiny into their own hands’, says Netanyahu
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands”.
“The time has come for all sections of the people in Iran ... to remove the yoke of tyranny from [the regime] and bring a free and peace-loving Iran,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The attack follows a 12-day air war in June between Israel and Iran and repeated US-Israeli warnings that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
“The state of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said.
An Israeli defence official said the operation had been planned for months in co-ordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ago.
Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, and sirens sounded across Israel around 8.15am local time in what the military said was a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of an incoming missile strike.
The Israeli military announced the closure of schools and workplaces, with exceptions for essential sectors, and a ban on public airspace.
Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, and the airports authority asked the public not to go to any of the country’s airports.
‘Bombs will be dropping everywhere’, says Trump
In a video message published on social media, US president Donald Trump cited Washington’s decades-long dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the 1979 US embassy in Tehran, when students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, as well as a range of other attacks the US has blamed on Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Trump said Iran had refused “for decades and decades” every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and “we can’t take it any more”.
“Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear programme and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland,” he said.
“Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had – and actually were armed with – nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message. For these reasons, the United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy.
“We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans.
“And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump urged Iranians to stay sheltered because “bombs will be dropping everywhere”.
He added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
Attack ‘against all international law’, says Fianna Fáil MEP
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews has said yet another US/Israeli “pre-emptive attack” in the Middle East was “against all international law”.
“Such strikes are only legal when there is a clear and imminent threat,” he said.
“This looks again like regime change. Nobody supports this Iranian regime, but this is not the way.”
Posting on X, Andrews said Trump “tore up” the nuclear deal with the international community in 2018 while Netanyahu has “pushed for this bombing for decades”.
“They are responsible for the fallout,” he added. “But we all could suffer the consequences, especially innocent Iranian civilians.”
Further escalation in Iran risks another ‘forever war in the Middle East’, says Labour Party
Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman Duncan Smith has expressed his “grave concern” following US and Israeli strikes on Iran overnight.
“Ultimately these strikes originate from the Trump administrations pulling out of the treaty Obama negotiated with Iran on enrichment,” he said.
“Ensuring Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapons capability should only be done through negotiation, the strong application of the IAEA inspections, and the broader non-proliferation regime.
“Instead we have an Israeli government that due to the international community’s inability to hold them accountable for their actions in Gaza, are acting with continuing impunity across the region.
“We also have a US administration that continues to display authoritarian tendencies, with these strikes being no exception.”
Smith added that launching pre-emptive strikes ,despite reports that breakthroughs had occurred in negotiations on stockpiling, risked a “new long-term war in the Middle East”.
“An emergency meeting of EU leaders must be called and I urge the Irish Government to call on our European allies to ensure that Europe works to de-escalate this conflict,” he said.
“Peace in the Middle East will never come on the battlefield, I urge the United States and Israel to stop their attacks and return to the negotiating table.”
US is planning ‘several days’ of attacks on Iran
The US military is expected to carry out a multiday operation against Iran, a US official told Reuters.
Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said the strikes under way are aimed at removing the “existential threat” posed by Iran
He said Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and the “operation” will create the conditions for the Iranian people to “take their fate into their own hands”.
Trump calls for changes in Iran’s leadership
US president Trump said the US had launched a “massive and ongoing” military campaign against Iran in an effort to decimate the country’s military, eliminate its nuclear programme and bring about a change in government.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” he said in an eight-minute-video posted on Truth Social.
“Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.”
Blast ring out across Tehran: latest images
Blasts have been heard across multiple cities in Iran, including the capital Tehran and Isfahan.
Long queues were reported at petrol stations with many people leaving the capital city, witnesses have told Reuters.
Three large explosions were heard in central Tehran, according to the Iranian news agency Fars. The casualties and targets were not immediately clear.
The first apparent strike happened near the offices of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It was not clear whether 86-year-old Khamenei had been in his offices at the time. He has not been seen publicly in days as tensions with the US have grown.
Iranian officials say several ministries in southern Tehran have been targeted.
Israeli military says barrage of missiles has been launched towards Israel
At around 8.10am Irish time, the Israeli military said it had “identified missiles launched from Iran” towards Israel, adding: “Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat.”
The US embassy in Jerusalem, meanwhile, has said all government employees and their family members have been directed to shelter in place until further notice.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, pushing the Middle East into a renewed military confrontation.
The strikes followed months of rising regional tensions amid threats by US president Donald Trump to attack if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
In a video shared on social media, Trump said the US military had launched “major combat operations” in Iran, saying the country had attempted to rebuild its nuclear programme.
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said Israel had launched a “pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the state of Israel".
Blasts have been heard across multiple Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran and Isfahan in central Iran.
