Israel strikes Iran over its nuclear program

Israel launched a wide-ranging attack on Iran’s nuclear program overnight, striking dozens of targets in an operation that pushes the region into a new conflict with uncertain consequences.

An Israeli military official said the attack targeted Iran’s nuclear program and other military sites, as well as Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. Dozens of planes wrapped up the first wave of the attack before dawn Friday, Israel said.

“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Iranian state TV reported explosions and showed smoke rising in the capital, Tehran.

The strike came hours after U.S. and Israeli officials had warned one was imminent and cut short a U.S.-led effort to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program diplomatically.

Iran has warned it would respond to any attack by striking Israel and potentially American bases in the region.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency and warned his population that Iran was expected to retaliate for the attack by firing missiles and drones at Israel.

President Trump said on social media that he remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution but that Iran must give up the possibility of developing a nuclear weapon.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. wasn’t involved in the strikes, noting that Israel advised the Trump administration it would take action for its own self-defense. He also warned Iran not to attack U.S. interests or personnel in the Middle East.

The attack comes just days before U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet his Iranian counterparts in Iran for a sixth round of nuclear talks. The U.S. has said Iran must give up the ability to enrich uranium needed to build a bomb. Iran has refused, leaving the talks at an impasse.

The Israeli military official said Iran had been secretly working to build a nuclear weapon in recent months.

Israel’s move to try to resolve the issue militarily is a gamble. Iran has dispersed its nuclear sites across the country and has buried them deep underground.

Any military strike would require a sustained effort and several rounds of fighting before either the regime agrees to give up its nuclear program or is toppled, former Israeli officials and security experts said.

Western and Israeli officials have said military action could set back an Iranian nuclear program at least a year, but there is considerable uncertainty over the estimate.

Meanwhile, Iran is expected to respond with attacks of its own that could send the conflict spiraling. The two exchanged direct blows last year for the first time, with Iran firing hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. Israel responded with strikes that damaged Iran’s missile program and took out much of its air defense, leaving it more vulnerable to an attack on its nuclear program.

“If a conflict is imposed on us,” Iranian Defense Minister Amir Aziz Nasirzadeh said Wednesday, “all U.S. bases are within our reach, and we will boldly target them in host countries.”

An attack also could spur Iran to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran will also likely stop cooperating with international inspectors, leaving its program more opaque to the U.S. and its allies.

Advocates of a strike said Israel had a limited window of opportunity to exploit the damage it has done to Iran’s air defenses and to allies such as the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which might previously have joined a retaliatory strike on Israel.

Netanyahu raised the possibility of strikes with Trump in a phone conversation Monday, according to two U.S. officials. Soon after, the U.S. began moving some diplomats and military dependents out of the Middle East.

Write to Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com and Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com