IDF says aim is to wipe out nuclear facilities, as new Iranian military chief threatens to open ‘gates of hell’ on Israel

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Israel has warned that its aerial assault on Iran, bombing nuclear facilities and air defences, killing military commanders and scientists, was “just the beginning” of an operation to smash the country’s nuclear programme, leaving the Middle East facing the prospect of a full-scale war.

Iran has vowed revenge, with the new head of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Pakpour, hastily appointed after his predecessor was killed in Friday’s attack, threatening to open “the gates of hell” on Israel.