Iran latest: Explosions heard in Tehran after U.S. and Israel launch strikes
The US and Israel have launched co-ordinated strikes across Iran, including Tehran, on Saturday, in a “preventative attack”.
Witnesses said they heard the blasts in the Iranian capital, while footage appears to show columns of smoke rising above the city.
Iranian state television acknowledged the blast, while officials said the their supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location.
The development comes amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme – its long-running effort to enrich uranium, which Western powers fear could be used to produce nuclear weapons.
In Washington, the US president, Donald Trump, signalled frustration with the latest round of negotiations. Speaking to reporters, he said he was “not happy” with how discussions were progressing.
“I’d rather do it the peaceful way, but they’re very difficult people…they’re very dangerous people,” Mr Trump said.
Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has been mediating the talks, expressed hope for a positive outcome as he sought “enough space to really close these remaining areas that we need to discuss and agree upon”.
Meanwhile, staff have been withdrawn from the British Embassy in Iran, ahead of the possible US strikes. At the US embassy in Jerusalem, non-emergency US staff and their families have been told to leave Israel due to safety risks.
