Israel has carried out a series of overnight air attacks against Iran, in retaliation for Tehran’s barrage of missile strikes against Israel earlier this month.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said aircraft struck military sites including air defence batteries and missile manufacturing facilities, adding that it considers its response completed.
Two Iranian soldiers were killed in the strikes, state media reported, while other sources denied there had been serious damage.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it has a responsibility to defend itself, but added that Iran “recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security,” a statement viewed as relatively conciliatory.
Israeli retaliation for an Iranian barrage of almost 200 ballistic missiles fired towards Israel on 1 October had been widely expected for weeks.
At the time, Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil in July. Many missiles were shot down by Israel and its allies but a small number struck central and southern Israel.
The US and Britain have both urged Iran not to strike back following the latest strikes, with the Biden administration calling for an end to the cycle of violence.
The Israeli military announced Saturday’s operation shortly after explosions were reported in Iran. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said the military had demonstrated its preparedness “to defend the state of Israel”.
He also warned if Iran started a new round of escalation, Israel would be “obliged to respond”.
Iranian authorities said sites in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces were attacked. The military claimed that the attacks had been successfully countered, although there was “limited damage” in some locations.
Senior US administration officials said the US was informed of Israel’s strikes beforehand, and that Washington had no involvement in them.
The attacks did not include Iranian oil infrastructure or nuclear facilities – targets the Biden administration had urged Israel not to hit – an official said.
The official said the US had encouraged Israel for weeks to conduct a response that was “targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm” and suggested that was “precisely what transpired” on Saturday evening.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Israel had the right to defend itself against “Iranian aggression” and echoed calls for Iran to avoid retaliation, saying the UK would work to “de-escalate the situation across the region”.
But Russia and other countries in the region, including US allies Jordan and Saudi Arabia, accused Israel of escalating the conflict.
The extent of the Israeli strikes and their precise targets were still unclear on Saturday morning.
Iran’s aviation authority briefly suspended flights but announced that they would restart from 09:00 local time (06:30 BST).
State media carried footage showing traffic flowing normally in several cities, while school and sports activities were reportedly being held as scheduled.
Hooman, a 42-year-old factory employee, was working in Tehran when he heard the blasts, he told news agency AFP.
“It was an echoing sound… terrible and horrifying,” the agency quoted him as saying. “Now that there is war in the Middle East, we are afraid that we will be dragged into it.”
Israeli air strikes also targeted sites in central and southern Syria, Syrian state media reported.
