Explosions have been heard throughout Tehran as IDF forces announced they had launched a retaliatory strike in the area.
Israel’s military said it carried out ‘precise strikes’ against military targets in Iran in response to what it called ‘continuous attacks by the regime in Iran against Israel’.
There were reports of at least five explosions that rocked the city of Tehran, as well as loud explosions that were heard in rural Damascus and central areas.
The Middle East has been on edge in anticipation of Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s attack on October 1, in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel, Iran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months.
An Israeli military statement said Israel ‘has the right and obligation to respond’, although it did not specify the target.
It added: ‘The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have continuously attacked Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil.’
A witness in Tehran confirmed hearing a loud explosion saying: ‘It was very loud and the sky turned red,’ said an Iranian resident in Tehran, who asked not to be named.
An Israeli military statement said Israel ‘has the right and obligation to respond’, although it did not specify the target.
The Isreali Prime Minister’s Office has released pictures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and military officials at the IDF’s underground headquarters in the midst of an attack on Iran.
The Israeli military said it had ‘fully mobilized’ its offensive and defensive capabilities as it carried out strikes on military targets in Iran.
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized,” the military said in a statement. Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, in a separate statement, urged the public to be ‘vigilant and vigilant’.
Iranian authorities have warned Israel against launching an attack, saying any attack on Iran would be met with stronger retaliation.
According to Fox News, the White House was notified shortly before Israel carried out the attack, but officials said the US was not involved in the operation.
The attack came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the US after a tour of the Middle East where he and other US officials warned Israel to deliver a response that would not escalate conflicts in the region and would not include nuclear weapons. site in Iran.
White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said that “we are aware that Israel conducted targeted strikes against military targets in Iran” and referred reporters to the Israeli government for more details on the operation.
President Joe Biden is currently in Wilmington, Delaware, and his advisers are not currently planning a meeting in the Situation Room.
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IRGC troops march in a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War
A missile is fired during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in southern Iran, in this handout image obtained on January 19, 2024
An Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the New York Times that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had told the armed forces to prepare several responses depending on the severity of the Israeli attack.
The widespread damage and high number of casualties could have prompted a sharp reaction from Tehran, officials said, and there would have been no response if the attack had been limited to military compounds.
Focus has fallen on various oil refineries and nuclear sites of economic and strategic value to Iran since the blistering attack on Israel earlier this month. Israel said to ensure allies in the US will steer clear of the valuable site.
Officials said a major attack could trigger a response with as many as 1,000 ballistic missiles – five times the number used earlier this month in Israel’s largest attack in its history.
The ayatollah allegedly ordered that such a severe response should be taken if Iran attacked its energy infrastructure or nuclear facilities, or killed a senior official, the official said.
The October 1 attack itself was in response to an Israeli strike that killed IRGC operations commander Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, according to Iran.
Israel released a graphic showing senior Hezbollah figures who have now been ‘eliminated’ – adding that they had ‘eradicated’ the group.
Fires flare up after an Israeli airstrike on the southern outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon on September 28
Iran has maintained that it does not seek escalation, but has sent out a strong warning to Israel that it will not last long as it insists on operations in Lebanon and Gaza.
And when the region appears to be on the brink of war, the Israeli military boasts that the beheading of Hezbollah is ‘not the end of our toolbox’ and is happy that it can ‘reach’ anyone who threatens it.
In a brazen mockery of the surrounding countries, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then showed a diagram of Hezbollah’s chain of command, where each leader had been marked as ‘Eliminated’.
On top of this, three days ago Israel killed Hashem Safieddine, the alleged ‘next leader’ Hezollah in a blitz from his bunker.
Safieddine is a powerful cleric in Hezbollah’s ranks and is anticipated to replace Hassan Nasrallah.
About 25 other Hezbollah leaders were also reportedly killed in the airstrikes.