Israel will continue Iran strikes 'as long as it takes', says Netanyahu | WATCH

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel's military operation against Iran will continue indefinitely, following airstrikes targeting what he described as the core of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Speaking in a video address, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had launched a series of precision strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites under an operation he named Rising Lion.

“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” he stated. “We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz.”

He also claimed that the Israeli Defence Forces had attacked key sites involved in Iran’s ballistic missile development, and that personnel involved in Iran’s nuclear weapons research had been specifically targeted.

“We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile programme,” he said. “We took direct action against Iranian nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.”

The remarks come amid mounting regional tension following Israel’s early morning airstrikes on Tehran and other reported locations within Iran. The full extent of the damage has yet to be confirmed, and Iran has not issued a detailed response as of yet.