Israel launched multiple air strikes on Iran in the early hours of Saturday, in response to what the Israeli military called “months of continuous attacks” from Tehran and its proxies.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is carrying out “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran, which it accuses of “relentlessly attacking Israel” since 7 October 2023.

The IDF’s confirmation of strikes on Iran followed earlier reports by Iranian state media of several explosions in and around the capital, Tehran.

It comes after Tehran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel on 1 October, in what the country said was a retaliation for the killing of Hamas’s political leader on Iranian soil back in July.

The 1 October attacks were largely thwarted by Israel’s military, but a small number struck central and southern Israel.

In a statement announcing that the operation in Iran was under way, the Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said Israel had the “right and duty” to respond and its “defensive and offensive capabilities” were “fully mobilised”.

The US, one of Israel’s closest allies, said Saturday’s strike against Israel was an “exercise of self-defence”.

“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1,” a National Security Council spokesman told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

A White House official told CBS News President Joe Biden “has been briefed and is closely following the developments”.

However, a US defence official stressed that there had been no US involvement in the Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Iranian state media confirmed that explosions were heard in the west of Tehran. A news agency close to the Revolutionary Guards said some military bases in the west and south-west of the Iranian capital had been targeted.

The extent of the attacks and the precise targets are not yet clear.

The Syrian state news agency reported that Israeli air strikes have also targeted some military sites in central and southern areas of Syria.