This is CNN breaking news.

Good evening. I'm Laura Coates, along with Jim Shuto.

We begin with a major breaking news story and a growing risk of open war in the Middle East.

Israel has launched what it's calling preemptive strikes against Iran,

targeting Iran's nuclear program and long-range missile capabilities.

We still are learning the full scope of the damage. You can see this video from Iranian

State TV. It is showing smoke and buildings on fire in the capital to Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement shortly after the strikes

revealing what Israel

targeted, and that is not just a one-day attack that we're dealing with.

This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

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.

The video you're looking at here now shows smoke rising from the Natanz nuclear facility that Netanyahu just mentioned.

An Israeli security source tells us that top Iranian military leaders were targeted in these strikes.

Iranian state media says the head of the country's Revolutionary Guard has been killed.

The question now is how and when Iran will respond. Israeli sources

tell us that they are bracing for a retaliation. And Iran has done so before. Right now,

the skies are clear over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but we are learning that some senior Israeli

officials have been moved to secret locations. Back in Washington, sources say that President Trump

...