Israel has launched an air strike on Iran on Saturday in response to earlier Iranian missile attacks on military targets in Israel.

“In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel –- right now the Israel Defense Forces (Israeli military) is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” the military said in a statement.

Israel had vowed to hit back at Iran following its October 1 missile attack, with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant saying the response would be “deadly, precise and surprising”.

Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since October 2023 where it killed more 40, 000 civilians.

It has also targeted Lebanon where it has also killed many civilians. The Israeli forces have also suffered monumental losses since attacking Lebanon, forcing the military to suspend ground attack for two weeks.

“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilised,” the Israeli military said in a statement, although the Iranian authorities have said its defence system has responded effectively to the Israeli attacks.

Iran’s October 1 strike, its second direct attack on Israel, came after an Israeli air raid killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guards general Abbas Nilforoushan in Lebanon on September 27.

It also followed the killing of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31 in Tehran in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

The rapid escalation of violence has raised fears across the region of a wider war, pitting Israel, which is backed by the United States, against Iran and the allies it dubs the “axis of resistance”.

‘Fully mobilised’

Iranian state television said Saturday “strong explosions” were heard around the capital, though it did not specify the cause of the blasts.

“Minutes ago, the sound of strong explosions were heard from around Tehran, the source of these sounds is not yet clear,” a state TV presenter said.

It later said “six loud blasts” were heard in areas of Tehran.

Iranian media said no fire or explosions had been reported at a main oil refinery near the capital.

Iran had in recent weeks warned that any attack on its “infrastructure” would provoke an “even stronger response”, while Revolutionary Guards general Rassul Sanairad said an attack on nuclear or energy sites would cross a red line.

The United States, which has backed Israeli massacre of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, has said that the Israeli attacks were in self defence.

US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the “targeted strikes on military targets” are “an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1.”

The scope and nature of Saturday’s strike was not immediately clear, but in a possible indication, Syrian state news agency SANA said Syrian air defences had intercepted what it described as “hostile targets” near the capital city, Damascus.

“Our anti-aircraft defence is confronting hostile targets in the skies around Damascus,” SANA said on Telegram.

It also reported “sounds of explosions” in the vicinity of Damascus, though the origin of those blasts was unclear.