Israel launches military strikes against Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday on what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault Oct. 1, officials said. There was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic.

Israel’s military described the attack as “precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” without immediately elaborating.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since Oct. 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” an Israeli military statement said. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”

In Tehran, the Iranian capital, the sound of explosions could be heard, with state-run media there initially acknowledging the blasts and saying some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

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.

Meanwhile, state media in Syria described its air defenses as targeting “hostile targets” there as well.

Iran has launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent months amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel also has launched a ground invasion of Lebanon.

The strike happened just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the U.S. after a tour of the Middle East where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear sites in Iran.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement that “we understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran” and referred reporters to the Israeli government for more details on their operation.

Israel had vowed to hit Iran hard following a massive Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1. Iran said its barrage was in response to deadly Israeli attacks against its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and it has promised to respond to any retaliatory strikes.

Israel and Iran have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for Israel’s destruction, their support for anti-Israel militant groups and the country’s nuclear program.

Israel and Iran have been locked in a yearslong shadow war. A suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists. Iranian nuclear installations have been hacked or sabotaged, all in mysterious attacks blamed on Israel. Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later grew into the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.

But since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, the battle has increasingly moved into the open. Israel has recently turned its attention to Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began. Throughout the year, a number of top Iranian military figures have been killed in Israeli strikes in Syria and Lebanon.

Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited strike.

But after Iran’s early October missile strike, Israel promised a tougher response.

阿联酋迪拜——以色列官员称，以色列周六清晨对伊朗境内的军事目标发动空袭，以报复10月1日伊朗向其发射的弹道导弹袭击。目前尚无伊朗方面遭受损失的信息。

以色列军方将此次袭击描述为“对伊朗军事目标的精确打击”，但并未立即详细说明。

以色列军方在一份声明中表示：“自10月7日以来，伊朗政权及其在该地区的代理人一直在七个战线上对以色列发动持续不断的攻击，其中包括从伊朗领土发起的直接攻击。与世界上所有其他主权国家一样，以色列国有权也有义务做出回应。”

在伊朗首都德黑兰，可以听到爆炸声，当地官方媒体最初承认发生了爆炸，并表示部分爆炸声来自城市周围的防空系统。

一位德黑兰居民告诉美联社，他至少听到了七次爆炸声，周围地区都受到了震动。这位居民因担心遭到报复而要求匿名。

与此同时，叙利亚国家媒体称其防空系统也在打击“敌对目标”。

近几个月来，伊朗向以色列发动了两次弹道导弹袭击，而此时以色列与哈马斯在加沙地带的战争仍在持续，这场战争始于2023年10月7日哈马斯对以色列的袭击。以色列也对黎巴嫩发动了地面入侵。

袭击发生之际，美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯刚刚结束对中东的访问返回美国。在访问期间，他和美国其他官员曾警告以色列，其回应不应进一步加剧该地区的冲突，并且不应涉及伊朗的核设施。

白宫国家安全委员会发言人肖恩·萨维特在一份声明中表示，“我们了解到以色列正在对伊朗的军事目标进行定点打击”，并建议记者向以色列政府了解有关此次行动的更多细节。

10月1日，伊朗发动大规模导弹袭击后，以色列誓言要对伊朗进行严厉打击。伊朗表示，此次导弹袭击是对以色列对其在黎巴嫩的代理人真主党发动致命袭击的回应，并承诺将对任何报复性打击作出回应。

自1979年伊斯兰革命以来，以色列和伊朗一直是宿敌。以色列认为伊朗是其最大的威胁，理由是伊朗领导人呼吁摧毁以色列、支持反以色列武装组织以及该国的核计划。

以色列和伊朗多年来一直处于一场隐秘的战争之中。据信以色列发动了一场暗杀行动，导致多名伊朗顶尖核科学家丧生。伊朗的核设施也遭到黑客攻击或破坏，所有这些神秘的袭击都被归咎于以色列。与此同时，伊朗近年来被指责在中东地区发动了一系列针对船只的袭击，这些袭击后来演变为也门胡塞武装对途经红海走廊的船只的袭击。

但自哈马斯10月7日发动袭击以来，这场战斗日益公开化。以色列近期将注意力转向真主党，后者自加沙战争爆发以来一直向以色列发射火箭弹。今年以来，多名伊朗高级军事人物在以色列对叙利亚和黎巴嫩的空袭中丧生。

去年四月，两名伊朗将军在叙利亚境内疑似以色列空袭伊朗外交机构时丧生。此后，伊朗向以色列发射了一波导弹和无人机。导弹和无人机造成的损失微乎其微，而以色列在西方国家要求其保持克制的压力下，也仅进行了有限的反击。

但伊朗10月初发动导弹袭击后，以色列承诺将采取更强硬的回应。