Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in response to a barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired at Israel earlier this month. These strikes were the first time that the Israeli army openly attacked Iran.
Following the airstrikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had the right to self-defense, and “considers itself competent and obligated to defend against foreign aggressive actions.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Iran “has no limits” in defending its interests.
But late Saturday, the Iranian military issued a carefully worded statement suggesting that any ceasefire in Israeli ground attacks in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon would outweigh any potential retaliatory strike.
This is a map to locate Iran and its capital, Tehran. (AP photo).
The Israeli army said it targeted facilities used by Iran to manufacture missiles fired at Israel, in addition to surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or nuclear sites had been bombed, which would have represented a more serious escalation.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said four people were killed, all from the country’s military air defence. He did not mention their location. The Iranian army said that the strikes targeted military bases in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran, without going into details. The Islamic Republic said the attacks caused “limited damage.”
The strikes risk pushing enemies closer to all-out war at a time when violence is escalating across the Middle East, where Iranian-backed militant groups – including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – are already at war with Israel.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that Israel had informed him before the strikes and said it appeared they “did not hit anything other than military targets.” He said he had just finished a call with intelligence officials.
“I hope this is the end,” he added.
The first open Israeli attack on Iran
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Iran has not faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its war with Iraq in the 1980s. The sound of explosions could be heard in Tehran until sunrise.
On October 1, Iran fired at least 180 missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s devastating strikes against Hezbollah. They caused little damage and few casualties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran “made a big mistake.”
Israel is also widely believed to have been behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system of a Russian-made air defense battery. Iran launched a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April, causing minor damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic outpost in Syria.
Israeli army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and it paid the price for that.” He added: “If the regime in Iran makes the mistake of starting a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”
Pictures published by the Israeli army showed members preparing to leave to launch raids with US-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes.
The Iranian military statement described Israeli warplanes as launching lightweight missiles at a distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Iranian border. The Iranian military said the missiles hit air defense radar stations, some of which were already under repair.
However, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – which oversees its massive arsenal of ballistic missiles – has remained silent since the attack, raising questions about whether anything was struck at its bases. The Revolutionary Guard is one of the main centers of power within Iran’s theocratic regime, and its regular army has been set aside since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Yoel Guzansky, a researcher at the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies who previously served on Israel’s National Security Council, said the Israeli attack did not destroy highly visible or symbolic facilities that could trigger a major response from Iran.
It also gives Israel room to escalate if necessary, and targeting air defense systems weakens Iran’s capabilities to defend against future attacks, he added, adding that if there is Iranian retaliation, it should be limited.
Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said that Israel has once again demonstrated that its military precision and capabilities are superior to Iran’s.
“By targeting military sites and missile installations on nuclear and energy infrastructure, Israel is also sending a message that it is not seeking further escalation at this time,” Vakil said. “This is a sign that diplomatic and back-channel efforts to cushion the blow have been successful.”
The Biden administration obtained assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not strike nuclear facilities and oil facilities.
After the strikes, calm prevailed in the streets of the Iranian capital, children went to school, and stores opened their doors. There were long queues outside gas stations, something that happens regularly in Tehran when military violence erupts while people stock up on fuel. But some Tehran residents appeared anxious and avoided conversations with an Associated Press reporter.
Mixed reactions at home and abroad
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic goals,” saying on the “X” program that “we could and should have imposed a heavy price on Iran.”
The United States warned of further retaliation, and Britain and Germany said Iran should not respond. The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said: “All acts of escalation are condemned and must stop.”
Saudi Arabia was one of several countries in the region that condemned the strike, describing it as a violation of Iran’s sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas condemned the Israeli attack, with Hezbollah saying it would not affect Tehran’s support for the Lebanese and Palestinians fighting Israel.
Regional tensions have escalated in recent weeks.
In Lebanon, dozens were killed and thousands injured in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israeli airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese have been displaced, and the death toll has risen sharply with air strikes in and around Beirut.
Enemies for decades
Israel and Iran have been arch enemies since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Israel considers Iran its greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls to destroy Israel, and their support for anti-Israel armed groups and the country’s nuclear program.
During the years-long shadow war, a suspected Israeli assassination campaign led to the deaths of top Iranian nuclear scientists, and Iranian nuclear facilities were hacked or sabotaged.
Meanwhile, Iran was blamed for attacks on ships in the Middle East, which later developed into attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on ships through the Red Sea corridor.
The shadow war has increasingly come to light since October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militants attacked Israel. They killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostage in Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting until all the hostages were released. About 100 of them are still alive, and about a third of them are believed to have died.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the largely devastated Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, who do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of them are women and children.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and a partner from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Lolita C. Baldour, Farnoush Amiri, and Zeke Miller in Washington; David Rising in Bangkok; Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.
