Strikes in response to Iranian missile attacks; Israel warns of further escalation if provoked
TEHRAN — The Israeli military announced Saturday that it completed targeted airstrikes against Iranian military facilities.
The army said the airstrikes targeted missile manufacturing facilities believed to have produced the missiles launched at Israel in the last year.
The strikes were in response to recent missile attacks by Tehran against Israel.
In conjunction with the strikes, the military also targeted surface-to-air missile systems and other Iranian aerial assets, which were intended to impede Israel’s operational capabilities within Iranian airspace, it stressed.
“The operation was successfully executed, with all aircraft returning safely to base,” it added.
The military indicated that it possesses a range of offensive capabilities, some of which were utilized in the strikes on Saturday that targeted strategic assets deep within Iran.
“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a video statement. “We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel. The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission.”
“If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation — we will be obligated to respond,” he added.
Iran ‘ready’ to retaliate
Iran said that it was ready to retaliate against Israeli “aggression.” That was before the announcement by Israel.
“There is no doubt that Israel will receive the appropriate response to any action it takes,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources.
The US said earlier that Israel “is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st.” — AA
