TEL AVIV — Israel attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month.

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 press 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 two nations closer to war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where terrorist groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.

Following the airstrikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it had a right to self-defense, and “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression.”

The first open Israeli attack on Iran
“Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it,” said Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

“We are focused on our war objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation.”

Photos and video released by Israel showed Prime Minister Netanyahu, wearing a black casual jacket, and the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, meeting with military advisers and others in a conference room at a military command and control center at the Kirya military base at Tel Aviv.

The strikes filled the air for hours until sunrise in Iran. They marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.

Israel is also widely thought to have been behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran in which the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery was hit.

Saturday’s attack came as part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks on it from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Admiral Hagari said.

“The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission,” Admiral Hagari said. “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”

Israel’s attack effectively sent the message to Iran that it would not remain silent, while not taking out highly visible or symbolic facilities that could prompt an significant response from Iran, said a researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, Yoel Guzansky, who formerly worked for Israel’s National Security Council.

At the same time, it also gives Israel room for further escalation if needed, and the targeting of air defense systems weakens Iran’s capabilities to defend against future attacks, he said, adding that if there is Iranian retaliation, he expects it to be limited.

“There’s more chances of Iranian restraint because of their interests, because of pressure from the outside, and because of the nature of the Israeli attack … that allows them to save face,” he said.

Mixed reactions at home and abroad
Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets” in the attack.

“We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran,” Mr. Lapid wrote on X.

American warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, and British Prime Minister Starmer said “Iran should not respond.”

“We need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint,” he said while attending a summit in Samoa.

Saudi Arabia was one of multiple countries in the region condemning the strike, calling it a violation of Iran’s “sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.”

The kingdom’s foreign ministry said it rejected the escalation in the region and “the expansion of the conflict that threatens the security and stability of the countries and people of the region.”

Iran’s move to quickly downplay the attack, meanwhile, could offer an avenue for it not to respond, averting further escalation.