ROME (ITALPRESS) – Israel announced overnight that it had launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran weeks after the Islamic Republic’s massive ballistic missile barrage, with the Israeli military saying the “targeted strikes” targeted Iranian military sites. Reports began surfacing of explosions near Tehran around 3:15 a.m. Italian time, the Israel Defense Forces issued a statement confirming that they were attacking Iran in response to “months of continuous regime attacks in Iran against the State of Israel.” The attacks were carried out in several waves over several hours in various areas of Iran. “The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have relentlessly attacked Israel since Oct. 7, on seven fronts, including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the IDF said. “Like any other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and duty to respond.” The IDF added that its “defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized” and that it “will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”
After announcing that the plane returned safely to Israel, the army dubbed the mission “Days of Repentance.” It said dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes, participated in the “complex” operation about 1,600 kilometers from Israel. The IDF said the military sites targeted included air defense batteries and ballistic missile production sites, those used in Iran’s last direct attack on Israel on Oct. 1 and in an earlier attack on April 14. In addition, the military said the attacks gave the IAF “greater freedom of air action in Iran” and that it had a wide range of targets it could strike in future operations if necessary. There was no immediate comment from Israeli political leaders, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office published a photo of him huddled with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and top IDF generals in the bunker under the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv as the attacks were carried out. He later said he had held a security assessment with Gallant and the heads of the IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet. The IDF said that the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, was also under the Kirya base to command the attacks from the Israeli Air Force command center, with the head of the IAF, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.
Iran said its air defense system successfully countered the attacks, but that “limited damage” was caused to some locations. In a statement, Iranian air defense said Israel attacked military targets in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces. “The loud explosions heard around Tehran were related to the activation of the air defense system against the actions of the Zionist regime that attacked three locations outside the city of Tehran,” state TV reported, citing Tehran province air defense officials. An Israeli source told Ynet News that the Iranian claim was “a lie. It was a total failure, [there were] no interceptions.”
According to an Israeli official quoted by NBC, Israel was not targeting Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields and was focusing on military targets. “We are targeting things that may have threatened us in the past or may do so in the future,” the official said. Joe Biden’s U.S. administration has urged Israel not to strike such targets, while supporting Israel’s right to respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack. A U.S. official said Israel warned the United States before the attacks, stressing that the U.S. was not involved in the operation. “We understand that Israel is conducting targeted attacks against military targets in Iran as a self-defense exercise and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on Oct. 1,” said White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett.
photo: Ipa Agency
(ITALPRESS).
