Israel’s military said that it launched “precise strikes” on military targets in Iran” early Saturday morning. The strikes against Iran were in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Tehran. Israel said the air strikes on the military facilities in Iran are completed.
Iran’s state TV also confirmed that several strong explosions were heard around the capital, but there was no official comment about the source of the explosions. A few hours later, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, which the Iranian state media said was because of the activation of air defence systems.
According to Fox News, the White House was notified shortly before Israel carried out air strikes on Iran.
Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in the capital and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2 a.m. (2230 GMT on Friday).
Before dawn, Israel’s public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed and that the operation was over.
Iran said its air defence system successfully countered Israel’s attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam with “limited damage” to some locations.
The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel’s retaliation for a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, in which it fired around 200 missiles at Israel, killing one person in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Tensions between arch rivals Israel and Iran have escalated since Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group based in Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has been supported by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, also backed by Iran.
