What we know about Israel’s attack on Iran

Israel has carried out what it described as “exact and focused” airstrikes on Iran in retaliation for the barrage of missile strikes launched by Tehran in opposition to Israel earlier this month.

It’s the newest in a sequence of exchanges between the 2 nations that for months have sparked fears of an all-out regional battle.

However whereas Iran says Saturday’s strikes in opposition to navy websites killed 4 troopers, early indications counsel the assaults had been extra restricted than had been feared.

Right here’s what we all know.

Round 02:15 native time (22:45 GMT on Friday), Iranian media reported explosions in and across the capital, Tehran.

Video uploaded to social media and verified by the BBC confirmed projectiles within the sky over town, whereas residents in some areas reported listening to loud booms.

Shortly after, the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) confirmed it was finishing up “exact” strikes on “navy targets” in Iran.

The assaults concerned scores of plane, together with jets and drones. The targets included Iran’s air defences, in addition to missile and drone manufacturing, and launch services.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant adopted the operation from the IDF’s command and management centre in Tel Aviv.

The strikes got here in a number of waves, over a three-hour interval. Simply after 06:00 (03:00 GMT), the IDF stated the strikes had concluded.

The White Home described the strikes as an “train of self-defence”. A senior administration official stated the US had labored with Israel to encourage a “focused and proportional” response.

The extent of the assaults – and the injury precipitated – stays unclear at this stage.

The IDF stated it hit round 20 targets, together with missile manufacturing services, surface-to-air-missiles and different navy websites.

The Iranian navy confirmed that two troopers had died “whereas battling projectiles”.

Iranian authorities stated websites in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces had been focused. The nation’s air defence stated it had “efficiently intercepted” the assaults, however that “some areas sustained restricted injury”.

BBC Confirm has recognized injury at a defence ministry base to the east of Tehran, and at an air defence base to the south.

A senior US administration official stated the assaults didn’t injury Iranian oil infrastructure or nuclear services, targets President Joe Biden had urged Israel to not hit.

Syrian state media additionally reported strikes on navy websites in central and southern Syria, although Israel has not confirmed hanging the nation.

Iran is the first backer of a spread of teams throughout the Center East – usually described as proxy teams – which might be hostile to Israel, together with Hamas and Hezbollah, which Israel is presently at battle with.

In April, Iran launched its first direct assault on Israel, with about 300 missiles and drones, in retaliation for an Israeli air strike on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria that killed a number of prime commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Israel responded with a “restricted” strike on a missile defence system within the Iranian area of Isfahan, which Iran selected not to answer.

Later, in July, Israel killed a prime Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on Beirut. The following day, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Tehran. Iran blamed Israel, although Israel didn’t remark.

In late September, Israel assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan, a high-ranking Iranian official, in Beirut.

On October 1, Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, which it stated was in response to the deaths of Haniyeh, Nasrallah and Nilforoushan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace denied a report by US outlet Axios that previous to the assaults, Israel despatched Iran a message revealing sure particulars concerning the strikes, and warning Tehran to not reply.

“Israel didn’t inform Iran earlier than the assault – not concerning the time, not concerning the targets, not concerning the power of the assault,” the prime minister’s spokesperson stated.

Nonetheless, early indicators point out this assault was not as critical as some had feared.

The IDF stated in a press release that “we’re centered on our battle goals within the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It’s Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation”.

A senior US official stated “this ought to be the top of this direct change of fireplace between Israel and Iran”.

Iran’s international ministry stated it was “entitled and obligated to defend itself” and described the assault as a violation of worldwide legislation.

However it additionally stated that Tehran recognises its “tasks in direction of regional peace and safety”.

Photographs revealed by Iranian state media present life persevering with in relative normality – with busy streets, folks exercising in parks, and fruit and vegetable markets open as normal.

Iran closed its airspace for a number of hours in a single day, however it later reopened and there are a number of industrial flights within the air throughout the nation.

However there are indicators the Iranian authorities are eager to minimize the influence of the assaults.

The IRGC has introduced that it’s a felony offense to ship “photos or information” associated to the assault to retailers that it deems “Israel-affiliated” or “hostile”. Often, Iran refers to Western media as hostile.

Iranian media reported as we speak that Tehran’s Prosecutor Workplace has filed expenses in opposition to an unnamed web site for “masking points counter to nationwide safety”.

US Nationwide Safety Council spokesman Sean Savett stated Israel’s response “prevented populated areas and centered solely on navy targets, opposite to Iran’s assault in opposition to Israel that focused Israel’s most populous metropolis”.

However Washington’s intention, he added, is “to speed up diplomacy and de-escalate tensions within the Center East area”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stated Israel had the precise to defend itself, however urged all sides to “present restraint” and referred to as for Iran to not reply.

Saudi Arabia condemned the assault, and warned in opposition to any motion that “threatens the safety and the steadiness” of the area.

Egypt’s international ministry echoed these considerations, saying it was “gravely involved” by the strikes.

Hamas described them as “a flagrant violation of Iranian sovereignty, and an escalation that targets the safety of the area and the security of its peoples”.

Further reporting by Ghoncheh Habibiazad, BBC Monitoring