A man walks at the scene of an explosion in a residence compound in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025.

Israel launched a “preemptive” attack on Iran overnight amid fears Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon.

The air strikes have sparked wider concerns of all-out war across the Middle East – especially as Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza has already riled Iran and its regional allies.

Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?

Israel launched its “Rising Lion” attack on Thursday night, intending to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival”.

It’s likely Israel chose to attack right now because Iran is more vulnerable than usual, having still not rebuilt air defences Israel destroyed in an attack in October. It also comes before the US and Iran resume talks on a nuclear treaty on Sunday.

With 200 fighter jets, Israel launched a “preemptive, precise and combined offensive”, amid claims Iran has enough material for nine theoretical nuclear bombs.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said although they had already struck at “the heart” of Iran’s nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile programmes, the operation would take “many days”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran’s enrichment plant in Natanz was hit but later said they had not detected any increased radiation levels at the site.

Netanyahu claimed Iran has taken new steps to weaponise enriched unranium, meaning it could produce a nuclear weapon “in a very short time”, so they had “no choice but to act”.

Netanyahu then warned: “Israeli citizens may have to remain in sheltered areas for lengthy periods of time.”

Six nuclear scientists and Hossein Salami, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, wee killed overnight, according to Iranian state media.

What does this mean for the region?

Israel and Iran are separated by Jordan and Iraq, meaning a war between them puts other countries at risk.

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei immediately threatened to launch “severe punishment” against Israel after the strike which “matryred” key figures.

He said: “With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself – and it will undoubtedly receive........

© HuffPost