JERUSALEM — Iran has launched "approximately 100 UAVs toward Israeli territory" — an expected response after Israel carried out strikes across Iran that it said targeted the "heart" of its nuclear program.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Israel is working to intercept the drones. A state of emergency has been declared.

Iran's attack comes after Israel launched strikes across Iran that it says targeted Tehran's nuclear program.

Israel's strikes on Iran, which took place late Thursday into Friday, reportedly killed Hossein Salami, chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces. Two top nuclear scientists were also killed, according to Iranian state media.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were a "targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival", claiming that "if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time."

The Iranian government said Israel's attacks had "proven that it does not abide by any rule of international law. We affirm our right to retaliate, and we will respond to this terrorist entity firmly and decisively."

Earlier, explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as Israel claimed it was attacking the country. Iranian state media reported explosions in the northeastern parts of the city.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed early Friday that an Israeli strike hit Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.

In a statement on X, the IAEA’s Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said: “The IAEA is closely monitoring the deeply concerning situation in Iran... The Agency is in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels. We are also in contact with our inspectors in the country.”

Israeli leaders cast the "preemptive assault" as a fight for the nation's survival, adding that it was necessary to head off what they described as an imminent threat that Iran would pose if it developed nuclear weapons.

It remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether it had actually had been planning a strike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted both nuclear and military sites.

“It could be a year. It could be within a few months," Netanyahu said as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.”

"This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival,” he said.

The strike on Iran pushed the Israeli military to its limits, requiring the use of aging air-to-air refuelers to get its fighter jets close enough to attack. It wasn’t immediately clear if Israeli jets entered Iranian airspace or just fired so-called “standoff missiles” over another country.

Fighter jets were reportedly heard flying overhead in Iraq at the time of the attack.

The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. The Board of Governors at the IAEA for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over it not working with its inspectors.

Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones.

Israel for years has warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it doesn't want — though official there have repeatedly warned it could.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a “emergency situation” in the country following the attacks. He said schools would be closed nationwide on Friday, adding that an Iranian retaliation of missiles and drones are to be expected in the “immediate future”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral action against Iran” and that Israel advised Washington that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense.

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.

Rubio said the Trump administration took steps to protects its forces and remained in contact with its partners in the region. He also issued a warning to Iran that it should not target US interests or personnel.

A US media outlet says President Donald Trump has reportedly convened his cabinet for an emergency meeting following the Israeli attack.

In the days leading up to the attacks, Washington has made clear that it will not participate in any Israeli attacks on Iran. Trump had urged Israel to refrain from striking Tehran, and to seek diplomatic solutions, but acknowledged that an Israeli strike could very well happen.

Trump earlier said he urged Netanyahu to hold off on any action while the administration negotiated with Iran.

“As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think it would blow it,” Trump told reporters.

The US has been preparing for something to happen, already pulling some diplomats from Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East region.

Iran halted flights Friday at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside of Tehran, the country’s main airport, according to state-run media. Iran has closed its airspace in the past when launching retaliatory attacks against Israel. — Euronews