Israel strikes Iran as payback for missile attack, risking escalation of wars in Middle East

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran early Saturday, saying it was targeting military targets in retaliation for ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired at Israel earlier this month.

The explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital Tehran, although the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage.”

The attack risks pushing the sworn enemies into all-out war at a time of rising violence in the Middle East, where Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, are already at war with Israel.

On Saturday, the Israeli military launched its first open attack on Iran, which has not faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since the war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Israel’s hours-long attack ended shortly before sunrise in Tehran when the Israeli military said it had attacked “missile production facilities used to produce the missiles Iran fired at the State of Israel last year.” The statement also said it hit surface-to-air missile sites and “additional Iranian air capabilities.”

Israel did not provide any initial damage assessment.

Nuclear sites and oil facilities were initially seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack, but in mid-October the Biden administration sought assurances from Israel that it would not strike such targets, which would be a more serious blow. escalation.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7… including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video message early Saturday morning. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and responsibility to respond.”

The Iranian military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces and caused “limited damage,” without elaborating.

The United States warned against further retaliation, saying the overnight strikes were intended to end direct firefights between Israel and Iran.

The Israeli military said explosions were heard in northern Israel following its operations in southern Lebanon, but there was “no indication of a security incident.”

Iran downplays Israeli attack

Iranian state media acknowledged the explosions that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

But beyond the brief mention, Iranian state television provided no other details for several hours and even began showing what it called live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran, in an apparent attempt to downplay the attack.

A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions were heard during the first wave of attacks, shaking the neighborhood. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

As the explosions went off, people in Tehran saw tracer fire lighting up the sky. Other footage shows what appear to be surface-to-air missiles being launched.

Iran closed the country’s airspace early Saturday, and flight tracking data analyzed by the AP showed commercial airlines had largely abandoned the skies over Iran, as well as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Iran’s actions to quickly downplay the attack could give it the opportunity to not respond, which could lead to further escalation.

“The IDF accomplished its mission,” Hagari said in a later video. “If the regime in Iran makes a mistake and begins a new round of escalation, we will have an obligation to respond.”

Israel’s attack was a response to Iran’s attacks

In April, Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria targeting an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel – under Western pressure to show restraint – responded with a limited strike that it did not openly announce.

On the evening of October 1, Iran fired at least 180 rockets at Israel, forcing Israelis into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few casualties. Iran said the attack was in response to attacks in recent months that have killed Hezbollah, Hamas and Iranian military leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”

Before Iran’s attack in October, Israel launched a devastating series of strikes against Hezbollah, which had fired rockets at Israel almost daily for more than a year since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of people were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and radios used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israeli airstrike the following week near Beirut killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders.

Israel then increased pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese have been forced to flee their homes and the death toll has risen sharply due to airstrikes in and around Beirut.

Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for Israeli citizens forced from their homes near the Lebanese border to return. Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets at Israel until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.

US warns against retaliation

The White House has indicated that Israel’s strikes on Iran should end direct firefights between the two hostile countries, while warning Tehran of “consequences” if it retaliates.

A senior White House official said the administration believes the Israeli operation should “close” direct military exchanges between Israel and Iran and said other allies agreed.

US President Joe Biden was aware of the entire Israeli operation, the official said, while emphasizing that the US did not take part in the attack.

The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in line with ground rules set by the White House, said the Israeli operation “was large-scale, targeted and precise.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant about Israeli strikes on military targets in Iran, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said late Friday.

Austin reiterated that the United States was committed to the security of its ally and that Israel had the right to defend itself, although Washington was determined to prevent the conflict from widening, a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement.

Israel’s strike is the latest in wars in the Middle East

When Hamas and other militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, they killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages in the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu vowed to continue the fight until all hostages were freed. About 100 people remain, and about a third are believed to be dead.

More than 42,000 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of the dead were women and children.

Israel and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel views Iran as its biggest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for Israel’s destruction, their support for anti-Israel militant groups and the country’s nuclear program.

During a decades-long shadow war, an alleged Israeli assassination campaign has led to the deaths of top Iranian nuclear scientists and Iranian nuclear facilities have been hacked or sabotaged, all in mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later escalated into attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping along the Red Sea corridor.

Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the shadow war has increasingly come into the light.

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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Abby Sewell in Beirut; and Lolita K. Baldor, Farnoosh Amiri and Zeke Miller in Washington; and Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.