Three waves of pre-dawn strikes on military targets in Iran on Saturday completed Israel's retaliation on Iran, the Israel Defense Forces said, in what U.S. officials and others hoped would be the last shot in a hostile exchange between the two regional powers that has had the world on edge for weeks, fearing a dangerous expansion of the war.
The IDF said it hit aerial defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in Iran, avoiding nuclear and oil facilities in what appeared to be a limited attack aimed at deterrence by showing its military might, while avoiding a major escalation.
President Joe Biden told reporters in Pennsylvania Saturday that he was notified by Israel before the attack, and that he hoped this was the end of direct fire between Israel and Iran.
In a briefing following the strikes, a senior official of the Biden administration had said this is the “very strong view” of the U.S. and “it’s been communicated to our partners throughout the region.”
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On Sunday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, said Israel’s attack "should not be exaggerated nor downplayed," but did not expressly call for retaliation.
#BreakingNews: A video shows intense engagement by #Tehran’s air defenses, likely targeting #Israeli drones—all successfully intercepted. #US officials claim #Israel’s attack on #Iran is expected to last "several hours." pic.twitter.com/mouyFGPTwo
— NewWorldOrderObserver (@Mostafa_Fathi_S) October 26, 2024
Iran's foreign ministry condemned the attack in a statement on Saturday, asserting Iran's “inherent right to self-defense,” but added that the country will uphold its “responsibilities for regional peace and stability.”
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in July that Iran does not seek a wider war in the Middle East and that such a conflict would have no winners, something Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed last week, saying "if a major war breaks out in the region, America will be dragged into it, which is something we do not want."
Earlier in October, however, Pezeshkian threatened "harsher reactions" if Israel acts against Tehran.
The Iranian army said four soldiers were killed in the attacks. It also said the strikes targeted military centers in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam, but downplayed the attack, saying "damage was limited," and that its defense forces "successfully intercepted" the strike.
Iran's state media reported several explosions that could be heard from the capital, Tehran, and video footage verified by NBC News showed Iran’s air defense forces appearing to engage with Israeli projectiles. The capital itself was not directly hit.
And reaction on the ground in Iran appeared muted as schools and businesses opened as usual and state television continued to show regular programming, with Iranian air space reopening early Saturday morning.
Nevertheless, the strikes drew condemnation from other nations in the Middle East. Qatar and Saudi Arabia called the attack a “flagrant violation of Iran’s sovereignty,” while Iraq accused Israel of continuing its “aggressive policies.”
Jordan, one of the U.S.’ closest allies in the region, called the strikes a “dangerous escalation” that “threatens the stability of the region.”
The IDF said the strikes were in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Iran and its allies in the region, the latest in a tit-for-tat cycle of response and retaliation that has been going on for months.
On Oct. 1, Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel which it said it was a retaliation for Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, as well as the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September, alongside a senior commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard. That barrage caused little damage to the country.
The assassinations aimed to weaken the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah, with whom Israel has been engaged in heavy warfare in Gaza and Lebanon since October 2023.
They came after a tense exchange between Israel and Iran in April, that began when Israel bombed an Iranian consular compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing commanders and advisers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran responded to that attack with a drone and missile barrage on Israel that was at the time unprecedented. Israel retaliated with a limited strike on Iran which caused little damage.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war for decades, that prior to last year has mostly been fought with covert attacks or via Iran's proxies, which include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and forces in Syria and Iraq.
U.S. defense officials told NBC News that Israel had told their American counterparts about Saturday's strikes ahead of time, but that the U.S. was not involved in the attack.
While Iran had previously promised to retaliate to any form of Israeli aggression, some believe the apparently limited nature of Israel's attack could potentially serve as an end to direct conflict between the two nations.
Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum of Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center, told NBC News on Saturday that Israel has given Iran a reason "not to respond" in a way that escalates tensions further, adding that Israel has already shown its air defenses can handle an attack, while the presence of American troops would also serve as a deterrence.
"It seems right now, at least, they have more reason not to respond in a very tough manner," he said, before expressing caution that it was too early to tell the full extent of Israel's strikes.
Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, echoed Milshtein's cautious optimism.
"The fact that Iran is downplaying the attack and what's been hit is good news," he told NBC News on the phone. "By them being dismissive about the damage, it gives them space to say 'that's done, scores are settled.'"
Mekelberg added that the end of any direct conflict with Iran, alongside the killings of leaders in the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups, could create space to move from military action "to the diplomatic, political sphere."
"Whether Israel and Iran will think like this is a different matter," he added.
Andrea Mitchell, Courtney Kube, Mosheh Gains, Amin Khodadadi and Ammar Cheikh Omar contributed.
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