Israel launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes on Iran on Friday after the Islamic Republic fired a barrage of rockets at Israelis earlier this month.

Explosions were heard near the Iranian capital Tehran and nearby Karaj, Reuters reported, citing local media.

“In response to months of continued attacks by the regime in Iran against the State of Israel, the Israeli army is currently conducting precise strikes against military targets in Iran,” the Israeli army said in a statement. “The regime in Iran and its allies in the region have been ruthlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil. Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and obligation to respond. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized. We will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”

The Israeli military action comes after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised a “precise and lethal” response to the more than 180 missiles Iran used to attack Israel on October 1, some of which were intercepted with US help.

ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR: RESPONSE TO IRAN WILL BE ‘VERY PAINFUL’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, in October 2023. (Reuters/Pool)

Last week, ahead of the Israeli attack, reports emerged that the Israeli military presented a list of potential targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant, while officials carried out “sensitive coordination” with other Middle Eastern countries.

“The regime is vulnerable, and it is up to us to decide what message we want to send to them,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also told Fox News Digital. “It will be very painful for the Iranian regime, and they will think twice in the future whether to attack Israel or not.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the barrage of rockets it fired into Israel on October 1 was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in an Israeli airstrike and the assassination of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. July. Israel later eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a military operation in the Gaza Strip on October 16.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously called Nasrallah “the standard-bearer of resistance” in the region.

“The blood of the martyr will not remain unavenged,” Khamenei said after Nasrallah’s death, according to Reuters.

ISRAEL DECIDES ON POSSIBLE IRAN OBJECTIVES: ‘ACCURATE AND LETHAL’

Jerusalem residents sought shelter during an Iranian rocket fire on October 1, 2024. (Credit Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

Iran’s attack on October 1 caused no casualties in Israel, although one Palestinian was killed in the West Bank.

The US Navy later released video showing the USS Cole and USS Bulkeley firing about a dozen ballistic missile interceptors to help thwart Iranian aggression.

Iran also attacked Israel in April this year, using around 300 missiles and drones. Jerusalem then responded to Western calls for restraint by hitting Iranian air defenses and destroying part of an S-300 long-range air defense system.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces on October 16. (Photo by Mohammed Talatene/photo alliance via Getty Images)

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To strengthen Israel’s defenses against possible future attacks from Iran, an American missile defense system is being deployed to the Middle East.

Morgan Phillips, Caitlin McFall, Stephen Sorace and Liz Friden of Fox News contributed to this report.