The Iranian army said two soldiers have been killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted military bases, after Israel said it had “completed” its attack and warned against any retaliation.

The Israeli army struck military sites in Iran after 2am on Saturday (22:30 GMT on Friday) in response to what it said were months of attacks by “Iran and its proxies” in the region, according to Aljazeera.

Hours later the Israeli military said it had “completed” the strikes and “achieved its objectives”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Iran was “entitled and obligated to defend itself against external aggressive acts” after the attacks on its soil.

Iran’s air defence headquarters, in a statement, confirmed that bases in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran were hit but the attacks were “successfully countered”.

“Though minor damages were caused in some areas, and the extent of the incident is currently under investigation,” it said. There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit.

Iran also indicated its readiness to respond to any Israeli “aggression”, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources who said “there is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes”.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that while Israel targeted multiple locations across Iran, including the north, east and south, the main focus of the strikes was the Iranian capital.

“The attacks primarily aimed at Iran’s air defence systems, missile bases and drone facilities,” he added.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) said flights had returned to normal across the country.

Neither Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran nor other airports were attacked.

Earlier Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a prerecorded video statement, “The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 … including direct attacks from Iranian soil.”

He said Israel “has the right and the duty to respond”.

Israel’s response was long expected after Iran launched a missile barrage earlier in October, in which about 200 missiles were fired at Israel and one person was killed in the occupied West Bank.

Iran said that attack was in retaliation for assaults in recent months that killed leaders of Lebanese group Hezbollah, Palestinian group Hamas and the Iranian military.

Hezbollah says it fired rockets at 5 Israeli residential zones

In a series of statements, Hezbollah claimed “rocket salvoes” on five residential areas in northern Israel, including the outskirts of Krayot near Haifa, BBC reported quoting the AFP news agency.

However, the Israeli military in a statement said the Lebanese-armed group had fired approximately 80 projectiles targeting the country, just hours after Israel launched air strikes targeting military facilities in Iran.

“As of 15:00 [12:00 GMT], approximately 80 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah,” the army said in a statement.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified after the former heightened its assault on Hezbollah since last month, including air strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and a ground operation.