Israel announced early Saturday that it had launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran weeks after the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile barrage, with the military saying the “precise strikes” targeted Iranian military sites.
After reports of explosions near Tehran began to emerge around 2:15 a.m. local time, the Israel Defense Forces released a statement confirming that it was attacking Iran in response to “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel.”
The strikes were carried out in several waves over the course of several hours, in various areas of Iran.
“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the IDF said. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”
The IDF added that its “defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized,” and that it “will do whatever necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”
Following the strikes, the IDF said it was holding an assessment on a potential Iranian response to the attack, but as of now, there were no changes to guidelines for civilians.
After announcing the aircraft safely returned to Israel, the military dubbed the mission “Days of Repentance.” It said dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers, and spy planes, participated in the “complex” operation some 1,600 kilometers from Israel.
The IDF said that among the military sites targeted were air defense batteries and ballistic missile manufacturing sites — those used in direct Iran’s latest attack on Israel on October 1 and an earlier attack on April 14.
Additionally, the military said the strikes gave the IAF “wider freedom of aerial action in Iran,” and that it had a wide bank of targets that it can hit in future operations if required.
Iran claimed its air defense system successfully countered the attacks but that “limited damage” was caused to some locations.
In a statement, the Iranian air defense said Israel attacked military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam.
The loud blasts heard around Tehran were related to the activation of the air defense system against the actions of Zionist regime which attacked three locations outside of Tehran city,” state TV reported, citing officials of the Tehran province air defense.
An Israeli source told the Ynet news that the Iranian claim was “a lie. It was a total failure, [there were] zero interceptions.”
According to an Israeli official quoted by NBC, Israel was not targeting Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields and was focusing on military targets.
“We’re targeting things that might have threatened us in the past or could do in the future,” the official said.
The Biden Administration has been urging Israel not to strike such targets, while backing Israel’s right to respond to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack.
An American official told Reuters that Israel notified the US ahead of the strikes, stressing the United States was not involved in the operation.
“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that several military bases in the Tehran area were targeted in Israeli strikes. It specified that several bases in the western and southern areas of the capital were attacked.
Iranian media also said there were no fires or explosions reported at a key refinery south of the capital. “There are no reports of fire or explosions at a Tehran refinery,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian state TV said operations at Tehran’s airports, including Imam Khomeini International airport, were continuing as usual.
Sources quoted by the Tasnim news agency threatened that Iran was prepared to respond to any Israeli “aggression.”
There is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes,” Tasnim quoted the sources as saying.
In an English-language statement, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warned that if Iran was to “make the mistake” of escalating further, Israel would respond.
“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel,” he said in a video statement disturbed to foreign media.
“We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel. The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission,” 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,” he continued.
“Our message is clear: All those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into a wider escalation — will pay a heavy price. We demonstrated today that we have both the capability and the resolve to act decisively — and we are prepared — on offense and defense — to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel,” Hagari added.
Iran had braced for an Israeli reprisal after its latest direct attack on Israel, in which it fired 200 ballistic missiles that sent most of Israel to bomb shelters on October 1, killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank, and caused damage in residential areas and at military bases — although the IDF said that the attack had no operational impact.
Iran said that the attack came in response to strikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and much of the terror group’s senior leadership last month, as well as the killing of Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which has been widely blamed on Israel despite its silence on the matter.
