Israel launched strikes against Iran early Saturday morning local time in response to the Islamic Republic’s missile barrage on October 1, according to initial reports.
At least five explosions were heard near Tehran and several military sites were struck, Iranian state media reported. Military sites in central and southern Syria have also been hit simultaneously, according to Syrian state media. Iranian leaders have not officially commented on the situation, but Israel confirmed the assault.
“In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel—right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” the IDF confirmed in a statement.
The scope of the strikes against Iran remains unclear. However, an anonymous Israeli official told NBC News that the Jewish state is striking military targets instead of Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields, which the Biden administration has warned against targeting.
“We’re targeting things that might have threatened us in the past or could do in the future,” the official reportedly said.
Israeli officials have said they would respond to Iran’s attack, in which 180 to 200 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel earlier this month in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and other terrorist leaders. U.S. officials considered Iran’s military action unsuccessful, considering it did not inflict major damage on Israel.
The White House was reportedly given advance notice of Israel’s reprisal shortly before it was carried out. As the news broke, a National Security Council spokesman said the Israeli air strikes are “an exercise of self-defense.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, over the phone after Israel initiated the air strikes. No details were provided about the conversation.
In the weeks before the attack, the U.S. mobilized military forces in the region to deter Iran from responding with force and help Israel defend itself from another Iranian missile barrage should one occur. The deployment included a THAAD missile-defense system in Israel, meaning U.S. soldiers could intervene in the fighting between the two Middle Eastern nations on Israeli soil if necessary.
Last week, a pro-Iranian Telegram account leaked U.S. intelligence documents of Israel’s plans to strike Iran. Described by Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) as “very concerning,” the leak came as Israel was finishing preparations for its targeted air strikes. The FBI has since opened an investigation into the leak, considered to be a serious breach of U.S. intelligence.
While this is being portrayed as a more prudent approach that makes a regional war less likely, Israel’s show of restraint is a big risk.
Iran is in a long war against Israel which it seeks to destroy as part of a broader goal to weaken the United States. That war has been mostly fought through its terrorist proxies as it works toward the development of nuclear weapons.
Ever since Hamas launched the October 7th attacks from the south, Israel has been bombarded by projectiles from Hezbollah in the north, while Iran’s other proxy, the Houthis, has also periodically joined the campaign from Yemen.
What changed this year is that in April and earlier this month, Iran attacked Israel directly from its own soil, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles toward major Israeli population centers. While the threats posed by Hamas and Hezbollah are not existential to Israel, the possibility of those ballistic missiles being armed with nuclear material one day would be.
It is a risk that Israel cannot afford, and yet one that it continues to take.
Israel had a golden opportunity to deal a serious blow to Iran – crippling its economy by attacking oil sites and/or degrading its nuclear program. Not only did Israel have a clear justification for hitting Iran hard, but right now Hamas and Hezbollah are severely degraded and in less position to retaliate on behalf of their sponsor.
President Biden warned Israel against such larger attacks, pressuring the government both publicly and behind the scenes. Pro-Iran officials in the administration even leaked Israeli planning documents.
Opposition of the Biden administration made it not only diplomatically difficult to go ahead with a more punishing blow to Iran, but by many accounts, Israel would need access to more powerful American bunker busters to hit the most deeply buried Iranian nuclear facilities.
It would be going too far to say that the Israeli response served no purpose. Israel sent over 100 aircraft into Iran and they hit targets for hours – first, against anti-aircraft sites, then against ballistic missile and drone production sites. The fact that Israel could operate so freely 1,000 miles away from its own territory, and strike at will, without having to fear the Iranian air defenses or worry about Hezbollah retaliation, no doubt put the Ayatollahs on notice.
.jpg)
