TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel struck military targets in Iran in a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for a barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired at Israel earlier this month.
The Israeli military said its aircraft struck facilities Iran used to manufacture the missiles it fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit — strikes that would have signaled a much more serious escalation — and Israel gave no immediate damage assessment.
Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state media played down the attacks. The Iranian military said two of its troops were killed in the attack, Iranian television Al-Alam reported.
Still, the strikes risk pushing the arch-enemies closer to all-out war at a time of rising violence in the Middle East, where Iranian-backed militant groups — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.
After the airstrikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it had the right to self-defense and “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend itself against foreign aggression.”
The first open Israeli attack on Iran
“Iran has attacked Israel twice, including in places where civilians were in danger, and has paid the price,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
“We are focused on our war goals in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a broader regional escalation.”
Photos and videos released by Israel show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dressed in a black casual jacket, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisers and others in a conference room at a military command and control center at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.
The strikes filled the air in Iran for hours until sunrise. It was the first time the Israeli military openly attacked Iran, which has not faced a sustained barrage from a foreign enemy since the war with Iraq in the 1980s.
“Israel has once again shown that its military precision and capabilities are far superior to those of Iran,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at London-based think tank Chatham House.
“By striking military sites and missile facilities above nuclear and energy infrastructure, Israel is also signaling that it is not seeking further escalation for the time being. This is a sign that diplomacy and backchannel efforts to mitigate the attack have been successful.”
Israel is also believed to have been behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian air defense battery.
Saturday’s attack was part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.
“The Israel Defense Forces have accomplished their mission,” he said. “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of starting a new round of escalation, then we are obligated to respond.”
The Israeli strike effectively sent a message to Iran that it would not remain silent, while not taking out highly visible or symbolic facilities that could provoke a significant Iranian response, said Yoel Guzansky, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv who previously worked for Israel’s National Security Council.
At the same time, it also gives Israel room for further escalation if necessary, and targeting air defense systems weakens Iran’s ability to defend itself against future attacks, he said, adding that if there is any Iranian retaliation, he expects it to be limited.
“There is more chance of Iranian restraint because of their interests, because of external pressure and because of the nature of the Israeli attack … which allows them to save face,” he said.
After the strikes, the streets of the Iranian capital were calm. Children went to school and shops were open as usual. The only sign of concern was the long lines at gas stations. That is a common occurrence in Tehran when military violence flares up or during natural disasters, when people replenish their fuel supplies.
Mixed reactions at home and abroad
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets” in the attack.
“We could and should have demanded a much higher price from Iran,” Lapid wrote on the social media platform X.
The United States warned against further retaliation, saying the nighttime strikes should end direct firefights between Israel and Iran, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Iran should not respond.”
“We must avoid further regional escalation and urge all parties to show restraint,” he said at the Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Samoa.
Saudi Arabia was among several countries in the region to condemn the attack, calling it a violation of Iran’s “sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.”
The kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said it rejected the escalation in the region and “the expansion of the conflict that threatens the security and stability of the countries and people in the region.”
Iran-backed Hamas called the attack “an escalation aimed at the security of the region and the safety of its people.”
Nuclear facilities and oil installations were all seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack, before U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration received assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit such targets, which would constitute a more serious escalation.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
It closed its airspace during the attack, but Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said flights resumed at 9 a.m., Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported.
Iran’s state-run media acknowledged explosions heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city. But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television gave no further details for hours.
Iran may be trying to end escalating tit-for-tat attacks
Iran’s attempt to quickly downplay the attack may be a way to avoid responding and further escalation.
Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited attack that it did not publicly claim.
In Lebanon in September, dozens of people were killed and thousands wounded when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israeli airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
On October 1, Iran fired at least 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation, sending Israelis into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries.
Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”
Israel then increased pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground attack in southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese have been displaced and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes in and around Beirut continue.
Antipathy between the two countries goes back decades
Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran the greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls to destroy Israel, its support for anti-Israel militant groups, and the country’s nuclear program.
During their years-long shadow war, a suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists and hacked or sabotaged Iranian nuclear facilities, all in mysterious attacks attributed to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later escalated into Yemen’s Houthi rebels’ attacks on shipping along the Red Sea corridor.
The shadow war has come increasingly into focus since October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other killing Israel,1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking some 250 hostages to Gaza. In response, Israel launched militants attacked a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until all the hostages are freed. About 100 remain, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, who make no distinction between civilians and fighters but say more than half of the dead are women and children.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Schreck reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Lolita C. Baldor, Farnoush Amiri and Zeke Miller in Washington; David Rising in Bangkok; and Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.