Israel says fresh strikes target Iran missile, air defence sites

The Israeli military said it launched a fresh wave of strikes targeting Iranian ballistic missile and air defence sites on Sunday, while an AFP journalist in Tehran reported hearing loud blasts.

Tehran's enemies Israel and the United States began waves of strikes on Saturday, calling for regime change in Iran and prompting retaliation from the Islamic republic.

A military statement said Israeli forces had begun "an additional strike wave targeting the ballistic missile array and the aerial defence systems belonging to the Iranian terror regime".

In a separate statement, the military said "dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets" had struck more than 30 targets in western and central Iran, "including aerial defence systems, missile launchers, regime targets and military command centres".

At least three blasts were heard in Tehran around 0030 GMT, the AFP journalist said.

Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said on Saturday that the campaign against Iran comes after it "accelerated" its ballistic missile production and continued to promote nuclear weapon research.

"We now face a significant, decisive and unprecedented operation to dismantle the capabilities of the Iranian terrorist regime," he said in a televised statement.