Israel says it is conducting strikes on Iran military targets

Israel said early Saturday it conducted “precise” strikes on military targets in Iran, in retaliation for a barrage of ballistic missiles earlier this month.

Numerous explosions were reported across Tehran. Early reports suggested that sites linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been hit.

The latest clash between the two Middle East powers began on Oct. 1 when Iran fired around 200 missiles at Israel. While most were intercepted and caused little damage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate and he came under pressure from political allies — and rivals — to respond aggressively.

The worry now is of prolonged direct and open conflict between Israel and Iran, two longtime adversaries. The U.S. and its allies said for weeks that Israel had the right to defend itself but had worked behind the scenes to keep Israel from launching an attack that would set off a wider war.

Israel’s military said the country has the “right and duty” to respond to Iran’s attacks. The Israeli government advised the U.S. of its plans in advance, according to a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. military was not involved, another official said.

Iran said its earlier assault was a reprisal for Israel’s devastating attacks on the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, Tehran’s most important proxy group and deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S.

Last month, Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on Beirut. That came after days of intense bombing that killed several of the organization’s commanders.

Iran-backed Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people, kidnapping about another 250 and spurring a war with Israel. The ensuing fighting left more than 42,000 Palestinians dead, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

(Courtney McBride contributed to this report.)

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