Around one in the morning (Italian time) on Saturday, Israel began attacking some military bases in three different provinces of Iran: Tehran, Ilam and Khuzestan (the latter two near the border with Iraq).
The Israeli army said it conducted «precise bombing of military targets in Iran»claiming that he wanted to respond to more than a year of attacks that Iran and its allies had carried out against Israel. Some explosions were also heard in the capital Tehran. Several Iranian news agencies spoke of “limited damage”: it is not clear whether the damage was actually very small, or whether the Iranian regime wants to minimize it for not recognizing their vulnerability before Israel. Later in a note Iran said that there had been two deaths among its soldiers and that it would not respond to the attacks.
Around 5 am (Italian time) the Israeli army said that the operation had ended and that 20 military targets had been hit. About two hours later, Iran reopened its airspace for commercial flight traffic. The attacks, Israel said, were conducted by more than 100 military aircraft, including unmanned drones. To avoid being intercepted by Iranian defense systems, the bombings initially hit air defense batteries and radars in Syria and Iraq, two countries that have governments very close to Iran.
The Israeli military said the attacks then targeted Iranian air defenses themselves and some long-range missile production sites.
It was the first time that a foreign air force had bombed Iran since Iran fought against Iraq in the 1980s.
Tonight’s attack was carried out 24 days after Iran launched several ballistic missiles against Israel, responding to the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese political and military group Hezbollah, an ally of the Iranian regime. In recent weeks, Israel had repeatedly said it was preparing a response and the United States had strongly suggested, even with public declarations, not to strike civilian or strategic targets, such as oil and nuclear facilities, which would certainly have led to a rapid worsening of the situation.
About ten days ago many US newspapers wrote that according to various sources Israel had accepted this request. Although the damage caused is still unclear, it seems that Israel has indeed decided to carry out a more prudent attack.
According to what some sources report, IIsrael also warned Iran that the attack was coming as early as Friday evening and advised it not to respond. However, on Saturday morning he reiterated that, if Iran attacks Israel again, the army will be “obliged to respond”. A U.S. official said the United States stands ready to support Israel if that happens, but that tonight “should be the end of this direct exchange between Israel and Iran.”