Israel fired two waves of missiles on military targets across Iran early on Saturday in a long-awaited retaliation that marks the largest ever direct attack on its regional foe.

A barrage of airstrikes hit targets in Tehran, Isfahan, home to a military base, a missile production and several nuclear sites, and Mashhad, where an Iranian airfield is located. The IDF said its forces had been “fully mobilised”.

The “100-jet strong strike” from Israel came in response to Iran launching its own barrage of 181 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities some 26 days ago. A second wave of Israeli missiles came an hour after the first strike.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the IDF, said: “In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel, the Israel Defence is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran.”

“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and their duty to respond.

“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilised.

“We will do whatever is necessary to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel.”

It was unclear the precise extent of the damage but Israel appears to have refrained from hitting nuclear targets or civilian energy infrastructure - both considered high risk.

Iran’s national air defence headquarters confirmed that Israeli forces struck military facilities across three provinces while claiming their air defences largely repelled the attack in an early sign the regime may be prepared to de-escalate.