Israel launches strikes on Iran capital Tehran and city of Karaj as tensions boilover

Israel has pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes, targeting military sites in retaliatory action.

The Israel Defense Force said it carried out “precise strikes” on Iranian military targets in response to “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel”.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 — on seven fronts — including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” it said.

“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”

The IDF said its military was fully mobilised and that it would “do whatever was necessary to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel”.

The strikes came after Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1.

There was no immediate information on damage or casualties.

Iranian media said that several explosions were heard in the capital of Tehran.

“Some people report hearing the sound of several explosions in the west of Tehran,” Tasnim news agency reported.

The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 ... including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a prerecorded video statement on Saturday.

“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”

Initially, nuclear facilities and oil installations had been seen as possible targets but in mid-October the US administration believed it had won assurances from Israel that it would not hit such targets, which would be a more severe escalation.

Iran’s state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television offered no other details and even began showing what it described as live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an apparent attempt to downplay the assault.

A Tehran resident said that at least seven explosions could be heard in the first wave of attacks, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

As explosions sounded, people in Tehran could see what appeared to be tracer fire light up the sky. Other footage showed what appeared to be surface-to-air missiles being launched.

Iran closed the country’s airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data analyzed by AP showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed and would continue to receive updates.

In Syria, the state news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, reported missile fire targeting military sites in the country’s central and southern region.

It said that Syria’s air defences had shot some of the missiles down. There was no immediate information on casualties.

Iran fired a wave 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 missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited strike.

But after Iran’s early October missile strike, Israel promised a tougher response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”

A forceful Israeli strike on Iran risks further entangling the US, which maintains a large troop presence in the Persian Gulf and has helped Israel defend itself against attacks by Iran and its proxies.

with AAP