Israel hits Iran with airstrikes in retaliation for prior missile attack

Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military sites in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only "limited damage."

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.

Saturday marked the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn't faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.

Israel's hours-long attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted "manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year." It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sites and "additional Iranian aerial capabilities."

The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched "precise strikes on military targets in Iran," and, according to two Israeli officials, it was not targeting nuclear or oil facilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing operation with the media.

"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since Oct. 7 … including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a prerecorded video statement early 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 all had been seen as possible targets for Israel's response to Iran's Oct. 1 attack, but in mid-October the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden believed it had won assurances from Israel that it would not hit such targets.

Iran's state-run media acknowledged blasts could be heard, and said some of the sounds came from air defence 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 attempt to downplay the assault. 

A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions could be heard, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

People in Tehran could see what appeared to be tracer fire light up the sky as the blasts could be heard. Other footage showed what appeared to be surface-to-air missiles launching up to the sky, along with other detonations.

Iran temporarily closed the country's airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Iraq announced the reopening of its airspace and the resumption of flights hours later.

The United States warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran.