Israel launched multiple air strikes on Iran in the early hours of Saturday, in response to what the Israeli military called “months of continuous attacks” from Tehran and its proxies.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Iran has been “relentlessly attacking Israel” since 7 October 2023.
The IDF’s confirmation of strikes on Iran followed earlier reports by Iranian state media of several explosions in and around the capital, Tehran.
It comes after Tehran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel on 1 October, in what the country said was a retaliation for the killing of Hamas’s political leader on Iranian soil back in July.
The 1 October attacks were largely thwarted by Israel’s military, but a small number struck central and southern Israel.
The IDF said their “defensive and offensive capabilities” were “fully mobilised”.
The US, one of Israel’s closest allies, said Saturday’s strike against Israel was an “exercise of self-defence”.
“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1,” a National Security Council spokesman told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.
A White House official told CBS News President Joe Biden “has been briefed and is closely following the developments”.