By Crispian Balmer, Parisa Hafezi and Hereward Holland JERUSALEM/DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israel launched widescale strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders and that this was start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.

Just hours before Israel launched strikes on Iran early Friday, President Donald Trump was still holding onto hope that the long-simmering dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program could be resolved without military action.

Iran has limited options to respond directly. The danger, however, is that Israel has opened a Pandora’s box: the worst Iranian response might also be the most likely, a decision to withdraw from its arms control commitments and build nuclear weapons in earnest.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -On the campaign trail, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to end the world's hottest conflicts and usher in global peace, but nearly five months in, with Israel attacking Iran and bloodshed in Gaza and Ukraine unabated, those hopes are in shambles.

As the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, was one of the most powerful men in Iran, overseeing its most potent military arm and reporting directly to its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As tensions rise in the Middle East, the Trump administration works on a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program as Israel prepares to attack.

Asia shares have opened lower while oil prices surged after Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday amid tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

President Donald Trump warned Thursday of the possibility of “massive conflict” in the Middle East that could take place “soon.”