Middle East: Israel Retaliates Against Iran… Claims ‘Precision Strike’

Israel announced that it carried out an airstrike against Iran in the early hours of the 26th local time, attacking several installations.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Israeli warplanes hit military installations including air defense systems and missile production facilities, adding that the strikes would “expand the IDF’s freedom of air operations” in the future.

Iran’s state media reported that explosions occurred in several areas including the capital Tehran.

Israeli retaliation had been expected for weeks after Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel on October 1.

At the time, Iran said it carried out the attack in retaliation for the death of a Hamas political leader inside Iranian territory in July. Many of the missiles were intercepted by Israel and its allies, but some reached central and southern Israel.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the operation shortly after the explosion on the 26th. IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military had “accomplished its mission and demonstrated its readiness to defend Israel.”

Iranian authorities said the attacks took place in several locations in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam governorates. The military claimed that the attack had been successfully foiled but added that there had been “limited damage” in some places.

The United States, a close ally of Israel, characterized Saturday’s attack against Israel as an “exercise of self-defense,” and a British government spokesman echoed similar sentiments, citing Israel’s “right to self-defense.”

Iran has said it attacked Israel for the July blast in Tehran, which killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, calling it a “violation of Iran’s sovereignty and martyrdom”.

Iran also explained that the retaliatory strike on the 1st was in retaliation for the deaths of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior Iranian official Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of southern Beirut.

After Israel launched the airstrikes, a White House official said President Joe Biden “has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely.” A spokesman for the British government also said that London is closely monitoring the situation.

But a US Pentagon official insisted on Saturday that the US was not involved in the Israeli airstrikes.

As of the morning of the 26th local time, the scale of the attack and the exact target were still unclear.

Iran’s aviation authority has announced that flights on all routes have been canceled until further notice.

According to Syrian state media, Israeli airstrikes also targeted positions in central and southern Syria.