Follow the latest news after Israel launched strikes at Iran, a dramatic escalation in long-running tensions between the two countries.

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

President Trump joked that Iranian officials killed in Israel's airstrike clearly did not die of an illness, warning that Iran should have heeded his warning.

Mossad released footage that it said showed two agents on Iranian soil who deployed precision attack systems "designed to destroy Iranian air defense systems."

Eyal Hulata joins The Lead

The retaliatory strikes came after Israel attacked Iran, killing top military leaders and scientists. The assault destroyed an aboveground nuclear enrichment plant near Natanz, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said.

Iran launched missiles toward Israel in return on Friday, and the U.S. helped intercept them, a U.S. official said.

The back-and-forth strikes stoked concern among investors about a possible wider conflict across the Middle East, which accounts for a large share of global oil production. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures price -- a key measure of U.