Israel says it met targets in overnight attack on Iran

Israel says it has completed a major assault on Iran after more than a year of fighting that began with an attack by the pro-Iran group Hamas on Israeli territory, which has become a multi-front conflict directly involving Tehran and its other regional proxies. .

In a statement issued early Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes returned home safely after launching “precise and targeted strikes against military targets in several areas of Iran.”

The statement was issued about four hours after the first reports of explosions in Iran emerged around 2:30 a.m. Tehran time.

“According to intelligence, Israeli air force aircraft attacked missile manufacturing facilities used to produce missiles that Iran fired at Israel over the past year,” the Israeli military said.

“These missiles represented a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of Israel. At the same time, the Israeli military attacked Iranian surface-to-air missile arrays and other air capabilities, which were aimed at restricting Israel’s freedom of air operations in Iran.”

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that the Israeli airstrikes achieved their objectives, but did not immediately provide evidence.

Iran’s state news site IRNA cited the country’s air defense organization as saying that Israel attacked military centers in Tehran and the western provinces of Khuzestan and Ilam. He said Iranian forces “successfully” intercepted many of the attacks, saying they caused only “limited damage.”

Iran’s first vice president, Mohamed Reza Aref, was the only high-ranking official to make a public comment on the Israeli strikes on Saturday morning. He raised an Islamic Republic flag in X and wrote: “The power of Iran humiliates the enemies of the homeland.”

Iranian authorities did not provide evidence that the Israeli airstrikes had been intercepted or of possible damage, but state media quoted the Iranian military as saying that two soldiers had been killed in the attack.

A senior US administration official told reporters that Israel launched “precision airstrikes against multiple military targets throughout Iran and outside populated areas.”

“The president (Joe Biden) and his national security team, of course, worked with the Israelis over the past few weeks to encourage Israel to carry out a response that was targeted and proportional, (with a) low risk of civilian harm.” . “That appears to have been precisely what happened this afternoon,” the administration official said.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on Israel’s operation, the White House said Friday. Both are closely monitoring developments and will continue to receive updates, according to media reports.

A US defense official told VOA: “We were notified” of the attacks, “but we are not involved.”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday and received updates on the Israeli Defense Forces’ attacks on military targets in Iran, according to a readout of their conversation. Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder.

Austin reaffirmed the United States’ strong commitment to Israel’s security and its right to self-defense, according to the statement. The secretary highlighted the ability of the United States to defend American personnel, Israel, and partners throughout the region against threats from Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, and the determination of the United States to prevent any actor from exploiting tensions or widen the conflict in the region, the statement added.

The Israeli military said it launched Saturday’s airstrikes against Iran “in response to the Iranian regime’s attacks against Israel and its citizens in recent months.”

In April, Iran fired hundreds of cruise missiles and drones in its first direct attack on Israel. The attack was in response to an Israeli airstrike that killed senior officers of Iran’s main military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Damascus that month.

The Guard fired about 200 ballistic missiles in its second direct attack on Israel on October 1, claiming it was retaliating for Israeli strikes that killed another of its commanders and leaders of its allies Hezbollah and Hamas in the days and months before. .

The United States has designated the Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

“Israel has made clear to the world that its response is now complete,” the US administration official said. “Accordingly, we call on all influential countries to pressure Iran to stop these attacks on Israel, so that we can overcome this direct cycle of attacks.”

Iran’s state news agency Tasnim cited “informed sources” in a Telegram post as saying that “there is no doubt that Israel will receive a proportionate response to any action.”

IDF spokesman Hagari said Israel will know how to select additional targets in Iran and strike them if necessary.

“This is a clear message: whoever threatens Israel will pay a high price,” he said.

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