Israel struck military facilities in Iran

Israel’s armed forces have confirmed that they are “delivering precision strikes on military targets in Iran”, but not targeting the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear or oil facilities.

Iranian state media reported the sounds of explosions near the capital, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it carried out airstrikes against military targets in Iran on Saturday morning, officials said.

Two Israeli officials have confirmed that the IDF airstrikes on Iran are not targeting nuclear or oil facilities.

It was not immediately clear what the goals were.

Iranian state media reported the sounds of explosions around the capital, Tehran, without giving details.

The statement of the Israeli military says that Israel “has the right and duty to respond.”

“The regime in Iran and its aides in the region have relentlessly attacked Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the statement said.

The goals are also not specified.

Iran’s state television later said some of the blasts were from air defense systems, without giving further details.

According to flight tracking data, international flights began to be diverted around western Iran when news of the strikes broke. A message to pilots said that Iran had closed the country’s airspace.

Explosions were heard in Tehran, the capital of Iran, with state media saying some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

A resident of Tehran told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions were heard that shook the neighborhood. The resident wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

In Syria, state news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said “missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories targeted some military facilities in the southern and central regions” early Saturday.

It said Syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles.

There was no information about the victims.

The strike came as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was returning to the US from a trip to the Middle East, where he and other US officials warned Israel to deliver a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear weapons. sites in Iran.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement that “we understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran” and referred reporters to the Israeli government for more information on their operation.

Two US officials said Israel had given the US advance notice of the strikes, with both sources speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation.

They said the US was not involved in the operation.

Israel has vowed to hit Iran hard after a powerful missile attack by Iran on October 1.

Iran said its shelling was in response to Israel’s deadly attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it vowed to respond to any retaliatory strikes.

Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel views Iran as its biggest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for the destruction of Israel, their support for anti-Israel militants and the country’s nuclear program.

Israel and Iran have been involved in a long shadow war. A suspected Israeli assassination campaign has claimed the lives of top Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran’s nuclear facilities have been hacked or sabotaged, all mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later escalated into attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.

But after the Hamas attack on October 7, the battle increasingly moved into the open. Israel has recently turned its attention to Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets at Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

Since then, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Since then, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.

During the year, several high-ranking Iranian military personnel were killed in Israeli strikes in Syria and Lebanon.

Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post.

The rockets and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to demand restraint — responded with a limited strike.

But after Iran’s missile strike in early October, Israel promised a tougher response.