image source, Reuters
Caption, Tehran after several explosions were heard in the Iranian capital. Item information
- Author, Editor
- Author’s title, BBC News World
- October 25, 2024
Updated 35 minutes
Israel’s military said it launched a “precise strike” against military targets in Iran on Saturday morning using intelligence to direct the offensive.
Iranian state media reported several explosions in and around the capital Tehran.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a missile manufacturing facility was one of the targets of their attack.
“The IDF attacked Iran’s surface-to-air missile suite and other air capabilities that were intended to restrict Israel’s freedom of air operation in Iran,” Israel’s statement added after the strikes ended.
The message accompanied the announcement that the Israeli planes “have returned home safely.”
US government officials urged Iran not to retaliate against Israeli attacks.
Explosions were also heard in rural areas and the central region of Damascus, Syria. Although Israel has not confirmed any attacks on Syrian soil.
image captionIsrael said it had carried out “precise strikes against military targets” in Iran.
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.”
Although the magnitude and all the specific objectives are still unclear, Iran decided to close its airspace and cancel flights until 9 a.m. from Tehran “due to regional tensions,” the country’s Civil Aviation Organization reported.
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.
An expected retaliation
For a few weeks now, Israel was 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,” said Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
And he added that the decision is due to the fact that “the Iranian regime and its proxies 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 its part, the Iranian media transmits a message of calm, which contrasts with the reaction on social networks, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told the BBC.
“Based on the targets we’re seeing so far, this is designed to neutralize not destroy the Iranian long-range missile threat,” Taleblu says.
image captionA few hours later, Israel reported that the attacks on Iran had ended.
US looks closely
The White House said it understands that Israel carried out the attacks in Iran as an “exercise in self-defense.”
“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 the president of that country, Joe Biden, “was informed and is closely following events.”
While US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin communicated 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.”
He adds that Washington is prepared to “lead an effort to ensure the end of the war in Lebanon” and try to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, along with the return of captured Israeli hostages.
Since last October 7, the Middle East has been in a tense situation, after the Palestinian military group Hamas launched an attack on Israeli soil, killing around 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.
image source, Reuters
Caption, Tehran after the explosions are heard.
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?
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