US President Donald Trump./SCREENGRABThe US says it carried out strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordo - the latter is believed to be the most difficult and prized target.
In a televised address to the nation, President Donald Trump hailed the operation as a "spectacular military success", warning Tehran to quickly make peace or face "far greater" attacks.
The US reportedly used heavy bunker-busting bombs dropped from B-2 strategic stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles - details could be announced at a Pentagon briefing later on Sunday.
Iran's state media admit part of the Fordo site was "attacked by enemy strikes", but it is downplaying the extent of the damage.
Bluff. It is a word repeated a lot on Iran’s state TV, a presenter on state TV said Donald Trump is “bluffing” about destroying the Fordo nuclear site, adding that “only two tunnels at the entrance and exit of Fordo have been damaged.”
Iranian official media began downplaying the attacks early on, calling them “unverified reports”.
Morteza Heydari, spokesperson for Qom province crisis management, who had confirmed the attack on “a part” of Fordo, was quick to say afterwards that the whole province was “entirely calm”.
Iranian outlets also tried to downplay it by saying the explosions were “not that loud.”
At the same time, Iran has limited access to the internet, citing “enemy cyberattacks” as the reason. This has led to a drop in videos and photos sent to the BBC and shared on social media, meaning we have to rely more on videos by Iranian outlets and state media and their narratives.
Tehran earlier warned it would target American interests in the Middle East in retaliation for any US attack - so far it has fired missiles at Israel, with blasts heard over Jerusalem.
Israel welcomes the US involvement, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the "bold decision" will "change the course of history"
In the US, there was a mixed reaction from lawmakers roughly along party lines - with Republicans commending Trump, and Democrats warning that America is being dragged into another "open-ended" war.
Iran reserves 'all options' to defend itself, foreign minister says
Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi condemns the US strikes as "outrageous" and says Iran is reserving "all options to defend its sovereignty".
"The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior," he writes in a post on X.
Araghchi adds that the US has "committed a grave violation" of the UN charter as a member of the UN Security Council.
