Israel attacked Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday in what it said was a response to the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier in the month.
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit – strikes that would have marked a much more serious escalation – and Israel offered no immediate damage assessment.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks.
Following the airstrikes, Iran’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying it had a right to self-defence, and “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression”.
In a video statement, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it.
“We are focused on our war objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation.”
Photos and video released by Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a casual black jacket, and defence minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisors and others in a conference room at a military command and control centre in 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 has openly attacked Iran, which has not faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.
It came as part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks on it from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Rear Admiral Hagari said.
“The Israel Defence Forces has fulfilled its mission,” Rear Admiral 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.”
The United States warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran.
Nuclear facilities and oil installations were all seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s October 1 attack, before US President Joe Biden’s administration won assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit such targets, which would be a more severe escalation.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
Iran’s state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.
But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television for hours offered no other details.
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 diplomatic post.
The missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel – under pressure from Western countries to show restraint – responded with a limited strike it did not openly claim.
