Inside Israel's missile blitz on Iran: Tehran vows 'no limits' on its revenge after dozens of Israeli fighter jets strike up to 20 key military sites across the country
Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers on Friday as Israel launched a missile blitz on Iran
Iran vowed revenge yesterday after Israel's missile blitz on Tehran destroyed up to 20 key military sites, including a top-secret research facility.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had 'no limits' in defending its interests and was obliged to take retaliatory action.
But amid relief that nuclear and oil facilities were spared, the US said the air strikes - themselves retaliation for Iran's missile attack on Israel earlier this month - should signal the end of direct conflict between the two countries.
The pre-dawn strikes killed two Iranian soldiers and two others and marked the first time Israel has openly attacked the country.
Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers. Israel launched a simultaneous attack on military targets in central and southern Syria. Among the pilots and navigators involved in the Iran strikes were a number of women, praised by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for their bravery.
It is thought the secret research base near Tehran was developing 'kamikaze drone' technology, designed to loiter over a target until instructed to attack.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had 'no limits' in defending its interests and was obliged to take retaliatory action
Officials said some of the facilities hit made the missiles fired at Israel on October 1.
The 'precision strikes' raised tension 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.
US President Joe Biden was forewarned before the strikes and said it looked like 'they didn't hit anything but military targets'. He added: 'I hope this is the end.'
Iran hadn't faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq. Explosions could be heard in Tehran until sunrise.
On October 1, Iran launched 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation for blows landed against Hezbollah. They caused only minimal damage and a few injuries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had 'made a big mistake'.
Israel is also widely thought to be behind a limited air strike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defence battery.
And Iran fired a wave of missiles at Israel later that month, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli air strike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.
Israel had hit Iran with three waves of attack in the early morning hours of Saturday
The IDF said Iran has 'paid the price' for twice attacking Israel, adding: 'If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.' Images released by Israel's military showed pilots and navigators preparing to depart for the strikes in US-made F-15 and F-16 jets.
Sanam Vakil at the London-based think-tank Chatham House said Israel has again shown its military precision and capabilities are superior to Iran's. 'By targeting military sites and missile facilities over nuclear and energy infrastructure, Israel is also messaging that it seeks no further escalation for now,' she said.
Following the strikes, the streets in Iran's capital were calm and children went to school and shops opened. Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticised the decision to avoid 'strategic and economic targets', saying on social media: 'We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.'
Both Britain and Germany last night urged Iran not to respond.
2 comments:
You can only poke a bear (Israel) so many times. Eventually the bear will eat you.
What he said.
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