Retaliatory attack? Middle East tense as Israel strikes Iran military targets

Israel's military said that it launched "precise strikes" on military targets in Iran early Saturday morning.

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The strikes against Iran were in response to "months of continuous attacks" from Tehran. Israel said the air strikes on the military facilities in Iran are completed. Iran informed that two soldiers were killed in the air strikes.

Iran's state TV also confirmed that several strong explosions were heard around the capital, but there was no official comment about the source of the explosions. A few hours later, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, which the Iranian state media said was because of the activation of air defence systems.

According to Fox News, the White House was notified shortly before Israel carried out air strikes on Iran.

Iran is prepared to respond to any Israeli "aggression," Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources.

"There is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes," Tasnim quotes the sources as saying. The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit.

Strikes that Would have marked a much more serious escalation and Israel offered no immediate damage assessment.

Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only "limited damage" and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks. Iran's army said two of its troops had been killed in the attack, Iran's Al-Alam television reported.

Still, the strikes risk pushing the arch-enemies closer to allout war at a time of spiralling 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.