Israel launched airstrikes against military sites in Iran early Saturday, in retaliation to a recent Iranian missile attack on October 1, where Iran launched around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, killing one person in the West Bank, Reuters reports.
The Israeli military executed three waves of strikes, involving scores of jets, targeting missile production facilities. However, Israel refrained from hitting Iran’s critical oil or nuclear sites due to international pressure, including from the United States. Iran claimed its air defenses successfully countered the attacks, but reported that two soldiers were killed, and some military locations suffered some damage. Israeli officials have warned Iran against retaliating, while Iran vowed a “proportional reaction.”
US President Joe Biden advised against targeting Iran’s nuclear sites and emphasized that Washington would not support such actions. A senior Biden official stated that Israel’s airstrikes were “targeted and proportional,” but the US would be prepared to defend Israel if Iran chose to retaliate. The US was informed ahead of the strikes but was not directly involved.
