Israeli military strikes military targets in Iran, officials say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday against military targets in Iran in response to an Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, officials said. There was no immediate information about damage in the Islamic Republic.

The Israeli military described the attack as “precision strikes against military targets in Iran,” without going into detail.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel on seven fronts since October 7, including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and responsibility to respond.”

Sounds of explosions were heard in Tehran, Iran’s capital, with local state media initially acknowledging the explosions and saying some of the sounds came from air defense systems located around the city.

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

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