ISRAEL attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month. Iran said four personnel who served in military air defence were killed. The Israeli military said, its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make missiles 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 marked a much more serious escalation — and Israel offered no immediate damage assessment. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks. Still, the strikes risk pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiralling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel. “Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it,” said Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a video statement. “We are focused on our war objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

 

It is Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation.” The state-run IRNA news agency announced the deaths on Saturday night. It offered no details on where the four men were stationed in the country. Meanwhile, Iran’s military issued a carefully worded statement suggesting a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon trumps any retaliation against Israel. While saying it had the right to retaliate, the statement suggested Tehran may be trying to find a way to avoid further escalation after Israel’s attack on early Saturday. Iran’s military added that Israel used so-called “stand-off” missiles over Iraqi airspace to launch its attacks and that the warheads were much lighter in order to travel the distance to the targets they struck in three provinces in Iran. The statement said Iranian military radar sites had been damaged, but some already were under repair. Photos and video released by Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a casual black jacket, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisors and others in a conference room at a military command and control center in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. The strikes filled the air for hours until sunrise in Iran.

 

They marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq. It came as part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks on it from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said. “The Israel Defence Forces has fulfilled its mission,” Hagari said. “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.” The United States warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran. Nuclear facilities and oil installations were all seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s October 1 attack, before US President Joe Biden’s administration won assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit such targets, which would be a more severe escalation. Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating. Iran’s state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.

 

Ongoing hostilities are to nobody’s benefit, asserts India: INDIA on Saturday said that it remains “deeply concerned” by the evolving escalation in West Asia and its ramifications for peace and stability in the region and beyond. “We reiterate our call to all concerned to exercise restraint and return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy. The ongoing hostilities are to nobody’s benefit, even as innocent hostages and civilian populations continue to suffer,” read a statement issued by MEA. “Our Missions in the region are in contact with the Indian community,” it added.