The Israel Defense Forces said it conducted "precise" strikes on military targets in Iran.
The strikes, it said, were in response to months of attacks from Iran against Israel. Officials have been awaiting Israel's response to a barrage of missiles that were fired from Iran at Israel on Oct. 1.
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th — on seven fronts — including direct attacks from Iranian soil," the IDF said in a statement. "Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond."
Iranian state media reported explosions inside the country’s capital of Tehran. Two soldiers were killed by Israel's air strikes on Iran this morning, according to a statement from the Iranian army.
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The Iranian State Television Service, or IRIB, reported sounds of explosions in the city.
Three United States defense officials tell NBC News that the U.S. was given a heads-up before Israel launched strikes tonight on Iran.
The U.S. was not involved in the strikes, the officials said.
U.S. & World
President Joe Biden was briefed on the strikes in Iran from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, two senior administration officials said.
After the Friday night attack, officials expect this to be the last of the back-and-forth, direct military action between the two countries.
"This should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran,” a senior official in President Joe Biden's administration told NBC News. “As far as we’re concerned that should close out the direct exchange between Israel and Iran.”
Vice President Kamala Harris was also briefed on Iran, according to a White House official.
The strikes come amid Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in neighboring Gaza as well as its exchange of munitions with Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in the north who doubled down on attacks against Israel following the eruption of war with Hamas.
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