Iran insists Israels missile blitz caused limited damage as it vows no limits on its revenge after IDF jets hit 20 military sites
Iran has insisted Israels missile blitz caused limited damage while vowing it has no limits on its revenge after IDF jets hit 20 military sites on Saturday.
Iran has insisted Israels missile blitz caused limited damage while vowing it has no limits on its revenge after IDF jets hit 20 military sites on Saturday.
In a statement posted to X, President Masoud Pezeshkian gave his condolences to the families of the four people killed in the attacks and said Iran would continue to defend itself.
Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence, he wrote.
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
There was no indication oil or nuclear sites were struck and Iran insisted the strikes caused only limited damage, state-run media downplaying their impact.
Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers on Friday as Israel launched a missile blitz on Iran
Israel had hit Iran with three waves of attack in the early morning hours of Saturday
Irans foreign ministry issued a statement saying it considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran has no limits in defending its interests and called for the UN Security Council to condemn Israel for the attacks.
Saturdays pre-dawn strikes killed two Iranian soldiers and two others and marked the first time Israel has openly attacked the country.
Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers. Israel launched a simultaneous attack on military targets in central and southern Syria.
Among the pilots and navigators involved in the Iran strikes were a number of women, praised by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for their bravery.
The precision strikes raised tension at a time of spiralling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran - including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - are already at war with Israel.
But late on Saturday, Irans military issued a carefully worded statement suggesting any ceasefire in Israels ground offensives in Gaza and Lebanon would trump any possible retaliatory strike.
Irans state-run IRNA news agency said the four people killed were all with the military air defence.
The countrys military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces.
US President Joe Biden told reporters Israel had informed him before the strikes and said it looked like they didnt hit anything but military targets.
His administration won assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit nuclear facilities and oil installations.
Projectiles are pictured being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem on October 1
This picture shows a projectile being intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya
Many rockets, fired from Iran, were seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, on October 1
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Irans nuclear facilities were not impacted.
I hope this is the end, Mr Biden said.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, that Iran should not make the mistake of responding to Israels strikes, which should mark the end of this exchange, according to Major General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump briefly addressed the airstrikes on the campaign trail.
Israel is attacking - weve got a war going on and shes out partying, Mr Trump said at a rally in Michigan as Ms Harris was holding an event with Beyonce in Texas.
The vice president called for de-escalation and not an escalation of activities in that region.
I feel very strongly, we as the United States feel very strongly, that Iran must stop what it is doing in terms of the threat that it presents to the region and we will always defend Israel against any attacks by Iran in that way, she told reporters.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised the decision to avoid strategic and economic targets, saying on X that we could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.
Britain and Germany said Iran should not respond while a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said: All acts of escalation are condemnable and must stop.
Saudi Arabia was one of multiple countries in the region condemning the strike, calling it a violation of Irans sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv
Missiles rain down on Israel, as the IDF attempt to intercept them on October 1
Hezbollah and Hamas condemned Israels attack.
Saturdays attack comes after Iran launched 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation for blows landed against Hezbollah on October 1.
They caused only minimal damage and a few injuries but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had made a big mistake.
Israel is also widely thought to be behind a limited air strike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defence battery.
And Iran fired a wave of missiles at Israel later that month, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli air strike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.
The IDF said Iran has paid the price for twice attacking Israel, adding: If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.
Images released by Israels military showed pilots and navigators preparing to depart for the strikes in US-made F-15 and F-16 jets.
Sanam Vakil at the London-based think-tank Chatham House said Israel has again shown its military precision and capabilities are superior to Irans.
By targeting military sites and missile facilities over nuclear and energy infrastructure, Israel is also messaging that it seeks no further escalation for now, she said.
