Iran says it has the ‘right’ to defend itself, Israel warns of ‘high costs’

Iran warned on Saturday it would defend itself after Israeli airstrikes killed at least two soldiers, further fueling fears of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.

Israel warned that Iran would “pay a heavy price” if it retaliated, while the US, Germany and Britain demanded Tehran not allow the conflict to escalate further.

Other countries, including many of Iran’s neighbors, condemned the Israeli strikes, and some, such as Russia, called on both sides to show restraint and avoid what Moscow called a “catastrophic scenario.”

The Islamic republic insisted it had the “right and responsibility” to defend itself, while its Lebanese ally Hezbollah said it had already launched salvos of rockets at five residential areas in northern Israel.

The Israeli army said 80 shells were fired across the border on Saturday.

Confirming its own strikes after explosions and anti-aircraft fire echoed across Tehran, the Israeli military said it had struck Iranian missile factories and military installations in several regions.

“The retaliatory strike is complete and the mission is accomplished,” and the Israeli planes “returned safely,” the military spokesman added.

Iran confirmed that Israel had carried out strikes on military targets in Tehran province around the capital and other parts of the country, saying the raids caused “limited damage” but killed two soldiers.

Direct attack

Israel vowed to retaliate after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles on Oct. 1, the second-ever direct attack on its arch-enemy. Most of these missiles were intercepted, but one person was killed.

Israel’s retaliation drew condemnation from Hamas, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which warned against further escalation. Jordan said Israeli planes did not use its airspace. Türkiye has been one of the most outspoken critics, calling for an end to the “terror created by Israel.”

Israel is already fighting on two fronts.

It has waged a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon since last month, including strikes that killed the group’s top leadership and ground incursions to destroy missile sites.

And more than a year after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war in Gaza that has resulted in massive civilian casualties in the densely populated Palestinian territory.

The United Nations has warned that the conflict is entering its “darkest moment,” with Palestinians facing a dire humanitarian crisis and daily Israeli bombing.

Along with Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran-allied groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria carried out attacks during the aftermath of the Gaza war.

Around the same time that Israel carried out strikes on targets in Iran, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that an Israeli air attack had targeted military positions in central and southern Syria.

“Iranian proxies”

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose network of pro-Iranian factions, claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a “military target” in northern Israel before dawn on Saturday.

Two people died Friday from shrapnel wounds after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, Israeli officials said.

In addition to the attacks on civilian homes, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli soldiers near the village of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon and at an intelligence base, and launched drones at Israel’s Tel Nof air base, south of Tel Aviv.

On Saturday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike in Bazuria in the south of the country had killed a Hezbollah-linked medic.

US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said Israel’s response to Iran was an “exercise in self-defense.”

He called on Iran to “stop attacks on Israel so that this cycle of hostilities can end without further escalation.”

The Israeli military has accused “Iran and its proxies” in the region of “relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7,” when a Hamas attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

The attack killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to Israel’s official AFP news agency.

Dozens of hostages taken that day are still being held by militants in Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory bombing and ground war have killed 42,924 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry, a figure considered reliable by the United Nations.

In late September, Israel focused on striking Lebanon and Hezbollah leaders and then sending in ground troops.

Israel says the goal is to make its north safe for the return of tens of thousands of displaced civilians.

At least 1,580 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

In April, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory.

Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate annex in Damascus that killed members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Bombings later in April rocked Iran’s Isfahan province in what US media said was an Israeli response.

The hospital is under threat

Iran said its Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel was in retaliation for the Israeli air raid that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Gaza’s health ministry on Friday accused Israeli forces of storming the last functioning hospital in the northern territory in a raid that it said left two children dead.

The Israeli military said its forces were operating around the Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, but they were “unaware of live fire and strikes in the area of ​​the hospital.”

The Israeli military says it is seeking to destroy the operational capabilities that Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north.

Also on Friday, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli drone strikes killed 12 people waiting for aid near the al-Shati refugee camp.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)