Shortly before sunrise in Iran on Friday, Israel launched the first strikes of its operation against the regime’s nuclear program.

Sirens sounded in Israel as Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles in retaliation for Israel's strikes on its nuclear facilities.

The sweeping attacks by Israel, which began early Friday, have killed more than 70 people, including four of Iran’s top security chiefs, and damaged Iran’s main nuclear site at Natanz. Iran retaliated by launching scores of missiles at Israel. At least three people have been killed and dozens more wounded during these attacks.

Israel’s attack on Iran was long in the making – the result of years of meticulous planning by Israel and days of high-stakes talks between Tel Aviv and Washington, officials told CNN.

Israel’s decision to attack Iran’s nuclear program on June 12 might go down in history as the start of a significant regional war, and the inflection point that led Iran to finally acquire nuclear weapons.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel’s defense minister warned Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran continues firing missiles on Israel after at least three people died and dozens were wounded Saturday morning, following a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear program and its armed forces.

Israel launched a wave of unprecedented strikes on Iran shortly before sunrise Friday morning, hitting key sites in the nation’s nuclear program.

In remarks before the UN Security Council, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani claimed that 78 people had been killed in Israeli attacks across Iran -- using the term "martyred" -- and that another 320 had been injured.

Israel's surprise attack on Iran had an obvious goal of sharply disrupting Tehran's nuclear programme and lengthening the time it would need to develop an atomic weapon.