Israel launches strikes on military sites throughout Iran, weeks after missile attack

Israel launched its long-awaited retaliatory strike against Iran early Saturday, weeks after the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile barrage on the country, with the military saying the “preci

e strikes” by the Israeli Air Force targeted strategic military sites — specifically drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites, as well as air defense batteries.

Reports of explosions near Tehran began to emerge around 2:15 a.m. local time, with the Israel Defense Forces quickly releasing a statement confirming that it was attacking, in response to “months of continuous attacks from the Iranian regime against the State of Israel.”

The strikes were carried out in several waves over the course of several hours, in various areas of Iran, with the Islamic Republic closing its airspace for the duration and seemingly showing little ability to counter the assault. Strikes were reported in the Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Shiraz areas.

The first wave of attacks apparently targeted Iran’s air defense capabilities, both to ensure the IDF’s freedom of operations during Saturday’s sorties, and to lay the ground for further strikes, should Iran retaliate. As the campaign was underway, Syrian state media reported that Israel struck several military sites in the south and center of the country, action possibly taken to enable the IAF to operate more freely in Iran.

The next waves hit drone and ballistic missile manufacturing sites — those used in direct Iranian attacks on Israel on April 14 and October 1 — as well as sites used to launch such weapons.

Iran confirmed an Israeli attack had targeted military sites in the capital Tehran and other parts of the country, but said it had caused “limited damage” and that air defense systems had successfully countered much of the attacks — an assertion dismissed in Israel.

The Israeli military said at 6 a.m. that the assault had been completed, with “all goals achieved” and all aircraft returning safely home. It dubbed the campaign “Days of Repentance,” a reference to the recent Yom Kippur holiday. It said dozens of IAF aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes, participated in the “complex” operation some 1,600 kilometers from Israel.

The military said the strikes had given the IAF “wider freedom of aerial action in Iran,” and that it had a broad bank of targets that it could hit in the future if required.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th –- on seven fronts –- including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the IDF said. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”

Following the strikes, the IDF said it was holding an assessment on a potential Iranian response to the attack, but as of now, there were no changes to guidelines for civilians. The IDF added that its “defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized,” and that it “will do whatever necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”

“Iran struck Israel twice… and has paid the price for that,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “We are focused on the goals of the war in Gaza and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a wide regional escalation

“If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation — we will be obligated to respond,” he continued. “Our message is clear: All those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into a wider escalation will pay a heavy price. We demonstrated today that we have both the capability and the resolve to act decisively, and we are prepared — on offense and defense — to defend Israel and the people of Israel.”

Ynet cited an Israeli source with knowledge of the matter as saying: “The intelligence provided here by the IDF Intelligence Directorate was science fiction-like, beyond imagination.” He said the highly precise intel enabled Israel to hit “an irreplaceable factory” behind the manufacture of surface-to-surface missiles.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli political leaders, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a picture of him huddled with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and top IDF generals at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv as the operation was launched. It later said he held a security assessment with Gallant and the heads of the IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet.

The IDF said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi was also below the Kirya base to command the strikes from the Israeli Air Force’s command center, with the chief of the IAF, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.

In a statement, Iranian air defenses said Israel attacked military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam.

“The loud blasts heard around Tehran were related to the activation of the air defense system against the actions of Zionist regime which attacked three locations outside of Tehran city,” state TV reported, citing officials of the Tehran province air defense.

An unidentified Israeli source told the Ynet news that the Iranian claim of interception was “a lie. It was a total failure, [there were] zero interceptions.”

According to an Israeli official quoted by NBC News, Israel did not target Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields and focused on military targets.

“We’re targeting things that might have threatened us in the past or could do in the future,” the official said.

The Biden Administration had pressed Israel not to strike nuclear or oil sites, while backing Israel’s right to respond to Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack.

An American official told Reuters that Israel notified the US ahead of the strikes, stressing the United States was not involved in the operation.

“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that several military bases in the Tehran area were targeted in Israeli strikes. It specified that several bases in the western and southern areas of the capital were attacked.

Sources quoted by the Tasnim news agency threatened that Iran was prepared to respond to any Israeli “aggression.”

“There is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes,” Tasnim quoted the sources as saying.

Iran had braced for an Israeli reprisal after its latest direct attack on Israel, in which it fired 200 ballistic missiles that sent most of Israel to bomb shelters on October 1, killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank, and caused damage in residential areas and at military bases — although the IDF said that the attack had no operational impact.

Iran said that the attack came in response to strikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and much of the terror group’s senior leadership last month, as well as the killing of Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which has been widely blamed on Israel despite its silence on the matter.