Daylight has arrived in Iran after several hours of Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military said the attacks, which have now been completed, were in retaliation for Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel earlier this month and in April.

The Israeli military has warned Iran against further escalation, saying it “reserves the right to defend its citizens”, as fears grow that the long-running confrontation between the two powerful armies could escalate into a wider regional war – which could also include would affect the United States.

The Israeli military said it has hit production sites used to produce missiles that Iran has fired into Israel over the past year. It is unclear whether these production facilities also produced rockets launched by Iran’s allies Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthi rebels in Yemen, as tensions have increased in the region since Israel’s invasion of Gaza more than a year ago.

Israel also said it struck Iranian air defense sites early Saturday so its planes could attack the other targets.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said parts of military sites in three provinces – Tehran, Ilam and Khuzestan – were hit, but said air defenses were successful and damage was “limited”.

“The dimensions of this incident are under investigation,” IRNA said. Earlier, videos posted to social media by Tehran residents showed explosions in the sky and tracer fire rising from the city as dawn approached.

Images broadcast by Iranian state media showed calm on the streets of Tehran, with traffic moving and people going about their daily activities.

The Israeli decision to strike early Saturday morning came after weeks of deliberations within the security cabinet over the nature and scale of such an attack, Israeli officials said.

The United States has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for fear of sparking a wider conflict, a request Israel appears to have complied with, according to preliminary reports.

“This should be the end of this direct firefight between Israel and Iran,” a senior US administration official said after the attacks.