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Capital under fire - Smoke plumes tower overhead as Israeli warplanes hit 'heart of Tehran'

Capital under fire - Smoke plumes tower overhead as Israeli warplanes hit 'heart of Tehran'

"Thick plumes of smoke were seen towering over Iran on Sunday, the second day of the US and Israel's 'large scale' combat operations. The distant sound of an explosion is heard from a rooftop in footage captured from the city centre while other images show Tehran blanketed in dense clouds of black smoke. "For the first time in Operation 'Lion's Roar': The Defense Forces attack targets affiliated with the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran," Israel's military said in a statement. The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, and Tehran responded with strikes on Israel and US military assets across the region. Donald Trump confirmed 'major combat operations' in Iran in a video posted on his Truth Social: "To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity - or in the alternative, face certain death." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a joint operation with the United States "to eliminate the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran." According to media reports, Iran targeted bases providing support to the United States and Israel, with explosions heard in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Iran, Israel, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait reportedly closed their airspace and temporary restrictions have been imposed in the UAE. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned Washington and Tel Aviv’s attacks on Iran, calling them "a planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign state." The ministry added that the motives of the attackers "have nothing to do with the non-proliferation regime." They violate the basic principles of international law and pose a threat to the Middle East with a 'radiological' disaster. It comes following three rounds of talks between the Iranian and American sides, one in Muscat and two in Geneva in recent weeks."