Israeli military launches strikes on military targets in Iran, officials say

TEHRAN

Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday targeting what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault Oct. 1, officials said.

Dozens of Israeli aircraft launching attacks against Tehran, Meshed, power station in Karaj, according to Israeli radio. Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions around Iran’s capital, Tehran, without immediately elaborating.

An Israeli military statement said that Israel “has the right and the duty to respond.”

"In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces (Israeli military) is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran," the military said in a statement.

Iranian state television later identified some of the blasts as coming from air defense systems, without offering more details.

Iran's state TV also said that operations at Tehran's airports including Imam Khomeini International airport were "normal".

"Operations at Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport are normal and they continue to operate according to the schedule," the state TV presenter said, citing the chiefs of Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini airports.

Meanwhile, simultaneously with the explosions in Tehran, explosions were also reported in the Syrian capital Damascus and Homs province.

Syrian regime agency SANA reported that explosions were heard near Damascus.

According to social media accounts close to the regime, explosions were also heard in Homs.

Hezbollah and Iran-backed groups have a heavy presence in Damascus and Homs.

Iran has launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent months amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel also has launched a ground invasion of Lebanon.

The strike happened just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the U.S. after a tour of the Middle East where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear sites in Iran.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the "targeted strikes on military targets" are "an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1."