The Israel military claims to have launched strikes on military targets in Iran as Iranian media reported that several explosions were heard in the capital, Tehran, and in the city of Karaj, near Tehran, early Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X that it was conducting "precise strikes on military targets" in Iran but didn't elaborate.
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th, including direct attacks from Iranian soil, on seven fronts. Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond," the statement added.
Israeli strikes came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was returning to the United States after his latest trip through the Middle East.
VOA asked the National Security Council if President Joe Biden had been briefed on the explosions in Iran. Spokesperson Sean Savett would not directly respond but did acknowledge the strikes.
This is an exercise of self-defence and in response to a ballistic missile attack that occurred when Iran launched missiles at Israel on October 1," SAvett said of that would include conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran.
Biden was briefed on Israel's operation, the White House reported later Friday. Both he and Vice President Kamala Harris were closely following events and would be kept fully up-to-date, according to numerous news accounts.
A U.S. defense official told VOA "we were given a heads-up" on the strikes, "but we're not involved."
All of the additional U.S. forces ordered to the Middle East earlier this month had arrived in the region before the Israeli strikes on Iran, another U.S. defense official told VOA.
It also quoted Iran's state television on Saturday, saying nothing on the location of the blasts. The station aired images from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport and from a vegetable market in that city, which showed scenes of normal activity.
On Friday, earlier, U.S. Central Command, in charge of U.S. forces across the Middle East, reported that more F-16 fighter jets from Germany have arrived.
Israeli media reports that the government of Israel decided to attack Iran Friday evening through a teleconference of the security Cabinet.
The Israeli Defense Forces distributed a video Saturday of the chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, and the commanding officer of the Israeli air force, Major General Tomer Bar, from the Israeli air force underground command center in Camp Rabin.
Israeli officials said Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were closely following the operation.
Israel had promised to strike Iran after the missile barrage on October 1.
After the attack, Netanyahu said that Iranian leaders made a "big mistake" and warned them that they would "pay for it".
Iran's October attack launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles and was the biggest direct attack on Israel from within Iranian territory. This marks the second direct attack in six months; back in April, Iran launched missiles and drones in a tit-for-tat retaliatory measure after Israel launched missiles at an Iranian diplomatic installation in Syria.
The country's defense systems with Israeli and U.S. backing intercepted most of these, averting a more critical blow.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out the October 1 attack in retaliation for the Israeli killings of three key figures: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and an Iranian commander.
Earlier this month, US media outlets reported that the Biden administration believed it had obtained assurance from Israel that when it proceeded with its retaliatory strikes on Iran it would not target Iranian nuclear sites or oil sites, said US officials.
US media reported Friday evening that Israel was not carrying out attacks on Iranian nuclear sites nor on its oil fields but was concentrating on attacking other military targets.
Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said Saturday that several military bases west and southwest of the capital, Tehran, were targeted by Israel.
The war in Gaza began with an October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, still holds about 100 hostages, with a third believed dead.
Israel's Gaza Strip counteroffensive killed over 42,847 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry reported. Israel said the death toll included several thousand Hamas militants.
Hezbollah and Hamas are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others.
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