TEL AVIV, Israel – Israel attacked Iranian forces with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday in retaliation for a series of missiles fired by the Islamic Republic into Israel earlier this month.
Israel's military said its plane was targeting sites Iran uses to manufacture missiles fired at Israel and surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil fields or missiles had been hit – strikes that would have marked the largest escalation – and Israel did not provide an immediate damage assessment.
The explosion was heard in Iran's capital, Tehran, although the Islamic Republic insisted it caused “minor damage” and Iranian state media downplayed the attack. Iran's military said two of its soldiers were killed in the attack, Iran's Al-Alam Television reported.
Still, the strikes risk drawing arch-enemies closer to war at a time of heightened violence in the Middle East, where Iran-backed militant groups – including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – are already fighting Israel.
After the airstrikes, Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it has the right to defend itself, and “considers itself the right and responsibility to defend itself against foreign acts of aggression.”
Israel's first open attack on Iran
“Iran has attacked Israel twice, including in areas that put civilians at risk, and has paid the price,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm.
“We are focused on our military objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to promote regional expansion. “
Photos and videos released by Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing an unusual black jacket, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisers and others in a conference room at the military command and control center at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.
The strikes filled the air for hours until sunrise in Iran. They marked the first time Israel's military had openly attacked Iran, which has not faced so much fire from a foreign enemy since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.
Israel is also thought to have been behind a targeted airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit a Russian-made air defense battery radar system.
Saturday's attack took place as part of “Israel's response” to attacks from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.
“The Israel Defense Forces have accomplished their mission,” Hagari said. “If the Iranian regime were to make the mistake of starting a new round, we would be forced to respond.”
Israel's attack sent a message to Iran that it will not remain silent, while not releasing physical or symbolic resources that could provoke a significant response from Iran, said Yoel Guzansky, a former researcher at Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies. of 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 reduces Iran's ability to defend itself against future attacks, he said, adding that if there is any Iranian retaliation, he expects it to be limited.
“There are many opportunities for Iran to hold back because of their interests, because of pressure from outside, and because of the nature of the Israeli attack … which 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 objectives” in the attack.
“We could and should have exacted a very heavy price on Iran,” Lapid wrote in X.
The United States warned of further retaliation, indicating that night strikes should end the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “Iran should not respond.”
“We must avoid regional tensions and urge all parties to exercise restraint,” he said while attending a conference in Samoa.
Saudi Arabia is one of many countries in the region that condemned the strike, calling it a violation of “Iran's sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.”
The country's Foreign Ministry said it rejects regional expansion and “increasing conflicts that threaten the security and stability of countries and people in the region.”
Iran-backed Hamas called the attack “an escalation against the security of the region and the security of its people.”
Nuclear facilities and oil installations were all seen as possible targets in Israel's response to the October 1 attack on Iran, before US President Joe Biden's administration received assurances from Israel in mid-October that they would not hit these targets, which would escalate very big. .
Iran's military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
It closed its airport during the attack but the Iran Civil Aviation Organization said flights would resume at 9 a.m., Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Iranian media acknowledged the explosions could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems across the city. But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television for hours offered no further details.
Iran may be trying to end the escalating tit-for-tat attacks
Iran's move to quickly downplay the attack may provide a way for it not to respond, avoiding further escalation.
Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian base. Missiles and drones caused little damage, and Israel – under pressure from the West to show restraint – responded with a limited strike that it clearly did not want.
In Lebanon, scores were killed and thousands injured in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of Israeli-led attacks. A major Israeli airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
On October 1, Iran launched at least 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation, sending Israelis into bomb shelters but causing little damage and few injuries.
Netanyahu immediately said that Iran had “made a big mistake.”
Israel then increased the pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground attack in southern Lebanon. More than a million people in Lebanon have been displaced, and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes hit Beirut and its surrounding areas.
The tension between the two countries goes back decades
Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran to be its biggest threat, citing its leaders' calls for Israel's destruction, their support for anti-Israel groups and the country's nuclear program.
During their shadow years of war, an alleged Israeli assassination campaign killed Iranian nuclear scientists and Iran's nuclear facilities were hacked or destroyed, all mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on ships in the Middle East in recent years, which later escalated into attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea corridor.
The war in the shadows has come into the light since October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militias attacked Israel. They killed 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, and kidnapped about 250 people to Gaza. In response, Israel launched air and ground attacks against Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until all hostages are freed. There are 100 left, of whom about a third are believed to be dead.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and fighters but say more than half of the dead are women and children.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, and Schreck from Jerusalem. United Arab Emirates. Correspondents Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Lolita C. Baldor, Farnoush Amiri and Zeke Miller in Washington; David Rising in Bangkok; and Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.
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