Israel launches missile attack on Iran

Israel launched a series of missile attacks on Iran on Saturday morning.

Israel Katz, the Israeli Defense Minister, announcement that the country is under a state of emergency as thick smoke rose from an explosion in downtown Tehran.

Iranian state media reported explosions going off in their capital city.

The IDF launched the surprise attack before warning its own citizens to prepare to take cover if the Iranians fight back, with sirens already being heard across Israel.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF said in a national warning: 'This is a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the State of Israel.' 

The explosion comes as tensions are high between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program. 

This week, President Donald Trump warned that Iran is manufacturing weapons that could soon strike US.

Tehran is 'working on missiles that will soon reach' the US, Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. He also vowed to prevent Iran, the 'number one sponsor of terrorism,' from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump has openly flirted with regime change too, telling reporters recently that the ousting of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'would be the best thing that could happen.'

But US intelligence reports have not yet concluded that Iran is capable of crafting a weapon capable of reaching the homeland.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed last year that Iran could need until 2035 to create a 'militarily viable' intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) - the kind that travels thousands of miles, including, for a time, through space before the warhead plummets towards its target.

'Iran has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability,' the DIA report states.

Two aircraft carrier strike groups - representing around 15,000 soldiers, over a dozen ships, hundreds of planes and likely some submarines - are being used by Trump to get Iran to capitulate to his denuclearization demands.

In addition, many thousands of troops and scores of military assets are on bases throughout the region, though there are some reports of evacuations.

The stalemate has recently shown some signs of traction with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, with chief Iran negotiator Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Oman's foreign minister. 

Additional meetings were scheduled for Friday. 

This is a breaking news story.