JERUSALEM, Israel (Diya TV) — In the most aggressive escalation to date in its conflict with Iran, Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday morning against targets inside Iran. The Israeli attacks targeted Iranian missile-making factories and military bases. Israel’s government has billed the strikes as a last-chance, high-risk response to rising military pressure from Tehran.
Israeli Defence Forces have confirmed that warplanes attacked several locations inside Iran, including surface-to-surface missile production plants as well as other aerial capacities. According to the IDF, retaliatory strikes had been deemed necessary because on 1 October, for the second time in recent years, Iran had struck at Israel directly. Further Israeli aggression from Iran was vowed to be met with tougher responses.
Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement, “Based on intelligence, we struck crucial missile manufacturing facilities in Iran and weakened their ability to pose an immediate threat to our nation.” Iran’s state media confirmed Israeli strikes have caused damage in Tehran as well as the provinces of Khuzestan and Ilam, though characterizing the damage as minor. The Iranian military pledged to retaliate but declined to specify future actions.
This week, the airstrike struck a region amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The past year saw the involvement of military operations both in Gaza and Lebanon. Now, close to expansion into an even more devastating situation, this war against Iran is engulfing the landmass of its nation as well. Finally, strikes have come soon after killing Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard of Iran officials on account of the deadly Israel air raid that occurred back in September and brought an already bitter situation between these two countries into an even more brutal confrontation.
The United States, an important ally of Israel, acknowledged that it was informed beforehand of the Israeli operation but did not participate. According to a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, the strikes were a self-defense action as they directly responded to the missile attack from Iran. “We were notified beforehand, but no U.S. forces were involved,” the spokesperson said.
This led to increasing international concern of an even more extensive regional war that would drag a wide number of actors across the Middle East. Continued attempts through diplomacy at deescalation, the situation continues to be edgy between both sides with caution on further retaliatory attacks.
