ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran on Friday accused Israel of igniting “the flames of war” and vowed to take revenge as Tehran warned that Tel Aviv played with “the lion’s tail” by attacking its soil, killing high-profile military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Israel announced on early Friday that it carried out a “preemptive strike” against Iran after multiple explosions were reported in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The attacks targeted several parts of Iran, including Tehran and the Natanz nuclear research facility in Isfahan.

The strikes have claimed several notable Iranian officials, including Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); nuclear scientist and former head of the country's atomic energy organization Fereydoon Abbasi; President of the Islamic Azad University Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi; and Commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters Gholam Ali Rashid.

"The Zionist regime's nighttime aggression against our homeland, Iran, which led to the martyrdom of our beloved citizens, generals, and scientists, proved that this illegitimate regime does not adhere to any international rules or laws and, like a drunkard, openly and brazenly engages in terror and ignites the flames of war before the eyes of the world, including Westerners who claim to uphold human rights and international law,” the Iranian government said in a statement.

Tehran said, “Starting a war with Iran is playing with the lion's tail.”

"Israel's invasion of Iran's sacred skies and the cowardly assassination of Iranian generals proved that this regime is inherently terrorist."

"Now, all of us in Iran, from the nation, government, and sovereignty, can shout louder than ever that the Zionists are terrorists and aggressors and consider revenge and defense as our legitimate right, and more unified and united than ever, without any political differences, give a strong response to this child-killing and terrorist regime," the statement continued.

"Defending this water, soil, sky, children, generals, scientists, and all citizens is the responsibility and duty of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its armed forces, and we will not shrink from it even a little."

"The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has begun the necessary defensive, political, and legal measures to make the illegitimate Israel regret it from this moment on, and it is making it impossible for the Zionists to sleep."

"We will avenge each and every one of our martyrs and turn the violation of Iran's national sovereignty into the unforgivable sin of usurper Israel,” Iran vowed. "Revenge is near; closer than the jugular vein [of] the terrorist Zionists. This is the voice of a nation and a government that calls upon the world to testify that we did not start the war."

“The end of this story will be written by Iran," the statement concluded.