The Israeli army launched an attack against Iran, which it classified as “precise” against military targets, this Saturday morning.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that one of its targets, located with intelligence information, was a missile manufacturing facility and that the offensive came in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Tehran and after missiles Iranians will hit Israel on October 1.
Other targets near the Iranian capital and in the west of the country were attacked in the early hours of the morning.
“The IDF attacked Iran’s surface-to-air missile array and other air capabilities that were intended to restrict Israel’s freedom of air operation in Iran,” added Israel’s statement released after the strikes ended.
The message accompanied the announcement that the Israeli planes “returned home safely.”
The Iranian army reported the death of four of its soldiers.
In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, which it described as a “clear violation” of international law, and said the country has “the right and obligation to defend itself.”
But he added that the country “recognizes its responsibilities for regional peace and security,” a statement seen as relatively conciliatory.
For a year now, The Middle East is in a tense situationafter the Palestinian military group Hamas launched an attack on Israeli soil killing about 1,400 people and taking another 200 hostage.
Israel responded with a military offensive against the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 40,000 people.
military bases
Iranian state media had reported several explosions in and around the capital Tehran.
Explosions were also heard in rural areas and the central region of Damascus, Syria. Israel has not confirmed any attacks on Syrian soil.
Israeli authorities allege that the attacks launched against them by Iran in April and October of this year, as well as its support for other actors in the region, “undermine regional stability and security, and the global economy.”
Iran decided close its airspace and cancel flights until 9 in the morning from Tehran “due to regional tensions,” reported the country’s Civil Aviation Organization.
A news agency close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that some military bases in the west and southwest of the capital were attacked.
Iranian air defense forces said in a statement that they had successfully countered the attack on bases in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam, where “limited damage” was caused.
Tehran had launched an attack on Israel on October 1 in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, which occurred on Iranian soil in July and for which Israel was blamed.
That time, many missiles were shot down by Israel and its allies, but a small number hit central and southern Israel.
Calls for moderation
Several Middle Eastern countries criticized Israel’s actions and called for a de-escalation of hostilities between the two countries.
United Arab Emirates He said he condemned Israel’s attacks and stressed the importance of “exercising maximum self-control and judgment to mitigate the risks and prevent the expansion of the scale of the conflict.”
Saudi Arabia described what happened as a violation of “international laws and norms” and also urged all parties to exercise restraint.
Qatar expressed its “strong condemnation” of the Israeli attacks, which it described as a “clear violation” of international law and invited the parties to restraint.
Egypt says it is deeply concerned about escalation in the Middle East, including Israeli attacks on Iran, and condemned measures that threaten regional security and stability.
Washington speaks out
In the United States, the White House said it was understandable that Israel carried out the attacks in Iran as a “self-defense exercise.”
“We understand that Israel is carrying out targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise in self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1,” a National Security Council spokesperson told the network. of CBS news, a partner of the BBC in the United States.
He also added that President Joe Biden “was informed and is closely following developments.”
While the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austincommunicated with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, according to CBS News.
A statement issued by senior Biden administration officials urged Iran not to retaliate against Saturday’s attacks.
“If Iran decides to respond once again, we will be prepared, and there will be consequences for Iran once again.”
The statement added that the United States does not want that to happen: “This should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.”
An expected retaliation
For a few weeks now, Israel has been expected to respond to the Ballistic missile attack ordered by the Iranian government against its territory on October 1.
“Like any other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right to respond,” he said. Daniel Hagarispokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
And he added that the decision is due to the fact that “the Iranian regime and its representatives in the region… have relentlessly attacked Israel since October 7, 2023.”
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized,” Hagari continued in a speech.
For their part, the Iranian media transmitted a message of calmwhich contrasts with the reaction on social networks, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, to the BBC.
“Based on the targets we are seeing so far, this is designed to neutralize not destroy the Iranian long-range missile threat,” Taleblu says.
The questions raised by the attack
By Azadeh Moshiri, BBC News
The international community was on alert, waiting to see how Israel would respond, in a region where the word “escalation” has been used many more times than world leaders would accept.
US President Joe Biden made it clear that he does not support Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear research facilities or its oil facilities.
At this time, Iranian state media is downplaying the attack, as it commonly does.
The main questions at this stage are:
How much damage has actually been inflicted?
Will Iran feel the need to respond, at a time when its proxies are weakened and it has suffered a series of humiliations this year?
Those humiliations include the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, on Iranian soil, and the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Will this be yet another moment that leads to that dreaded slippery slope in the region?
click here to read more stories from BBC News Mundo.
Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday.
You can also follow us on YouTube, instagram, TikTok, x, Facebook and in our whatsapp channel.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.
- “There is no life left there”: the enormous destruction caused by Israel’s attacks in Beirut
- An Israeli attack in northern Gaza leaves at least 87 dead, according to local authorities