(Bloomberg) -- Israel struck military targets across Iran early Saturday, delivering on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to retaliate for a missile barrage three weeks ago that fanned fears of a region-wide war.
Iranian media said four soldiers were killed, but there were no reports of major damage and the OPEC member’s oil and nuclear facilities — which the US had urged Israel to avoid — appear to have been untouched.
Iran didn’t immediately vow to respond. Instead, it played down the scale and effectiveness of the attack and suggested its warnings in recent weeks against an aggressive strike had worked to deter Israel. It also emphasized the importance of achieving cease-fires in Gaza and in Lebanon.
Israel said its fighter jets hit air-defense systems, missile-making facilities and launchers. Numerous explosions were reported around Tehran, the city of Shiraz and the western provinces of Khuzestan and Ilam.
An Israeli official said among the anti-aircraft systems destroyed were advanced, Russian-supplied S-300s. A person familiar with the mission planning said one manufacturing site hit had produced solid fuel for missile engines.
A US official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration had worked with Israel to come up with a “proportional” response and urged Iran not to retaliate again.
Those comments were echoed by other Western leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While Israel had the right to defend itself against Iran’s aggression, he said, “we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint.”
The attack underscores how the war in Gaza, which erupted in October last year when Hamas militants raided Israel, has set off a series of crises in the Middle East. Israel’s now in a multi-front conflict against Iran-backed groups including Hamas in Gaza and in the West Bank, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. They caused little serious damage, with most of the projectiles intercepted by Israel’s vaunted air-defense systems. But one person in the West Bank was killed, cities and military bases were hit, and millions of Israelis were forced into shelters.
Iran’s barrage was, it said, a response to Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah and Hamas, including the assassinations of senior leaders. Tehran’s salvo followed its first-ever direct strike of missiles and drones against Israel in April, which similarly caused little damage. Israel was reported to have responded back then with a limited, single strike on a military facility in the city of Isfahan.
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it acted after “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran.” Signaling that more could follow, the military added: “Israel now has greater freedom of aerial operations, including in Iran.”
Israel’s statements were unusual in being so open about an attack against Iranian targets. It is suspected of having conducted numerous assassinations in the Islamic Republic in recent years, including that of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. But it hadn’t acknowledged responsibility for those attacks or the Isfahan strike.
Yair Lapid, a former Israeli prime minister and now an opposition leader, said Netanyahu’s government made a mistake in not attacking Iran’s “strategic and economic” infrastructure.
“We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran,” he said.
There was also pressure within Netanyahu’s coalition, where far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for follow-up strikes on Iran’s “strategic assets.”
Downplaying Strikes
In Iran, some state media said the country’s air-defense systems had “humiliated” Israel by intercepting the strikes.
The attack “was more a reflection of their fear and retreat than a display of power,” said Mohsen Rezai, a member of a state body that advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Still, the Iranian government said it was “entitled and obliged” to defend itself against foreign aggression. It reiterated that Israel’s actions in Gaza and the wider Middle East are the main cause of regional instability.
Statements from Khamenei in the coming days or weeks will be crucial to watch, said Firas Modad, founder of Modad Geopolitics, a consultancy for investors.
“If Khamenei claims that Israel is trying to force a war with the US which Iran does not want, then that will be a strong de-escalatory indicator,” he said in a note on Saturday. “Conversely, expressing readiness for war and committing to retaliation would indicate greater risks. The key indicator to watch is the speed of Iran’s response.”
The exchange of blows between Israel and Iran has raised the risk of a deeper conflict that could disrupt oil flows and cause prices to spike, potentially harming the global economy.
Israel’s latest strikes came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East, where he made a renewed push for a truce in Gaza and Lebanon. Visiting Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he also called on Netanyahu not to respond too aggressively against Tehran. Biden has been especially keen to contain the conflicts ahead of US elections on Nov. 5, when his vice president, Kamala Harris, faces off against former President Donald Trump.
Gaza cease-fire talks, stalled for weeks, are expected to restart within days in Qatar, Blinken said. Still, Hamas has signaled it doubts there will be progress toward a deal that ends fighting in the Palestinian territory and secures the release of around 100 hostages it still holds. And some far-right members in Netanyahu’s cabinet are against a truce, saying Israel must continue pressing its military gains.
“It is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East,” a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said in the wake of Israel’s strikes on Iran. “We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end.”
The Israeli government advised the US of its plans in advance, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the US military wasn’t involved, another official said.
Israel informed Iran in advance of the attack via several third parties, Axios said, and warned it not to respond. Netanyahu’s office denied that report as “mendacious and absurd.”
Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage with its raid into southern Israel from Gaza last year. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.
That’s led to widespread anger against Israel in many Arab states and beyond, including in countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE condemned Saturday’s strikes on Iran, without naming Israel. They called for restraint among all parties.
They and other oil producers in the Gulf have feared becoming embroiled in an Iran-Israel conflict and even becoming direct targets of Tehran or its proxy groups such as the Houthis.
Shiite-majority Iran has improved its ties with Sunni Arab states in the past 18 months and its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, toured several states this month. In Saudi Arabia, he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
At the same time, Iran warned that any state it saw as aiding Israel’s response — including by allowing the use of its airspace — could become a target for an Iranian counterstrike.
It’s unclear which countries Israel’s jets flew over to conduct their attacks on Iran. The Israeli military regularly flies over Syria, which has weak air defenses.
The US had signaled to Saudi Arabia it was ready to help defend the kingdom against an attack by Iran or its proxies, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
The tacit offer, made in the past few weeks, gave Crown Prince Mohammed and other Gulf Arab leaders some comfort as they awaited Israel’s response against Iran.
Next week, Saudi Arabia starts its annual flagship investment conference. The Future Investment Initiative is expected to draw top executives from Wall Street and Silicon Valley this year, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Solomon.
The Davos-style confab is meant to showcase the kingdom’s push to diversify its economy from oil, and MBS, as the crown prince is known, sees regional stability as crucial to that aim.
--With assistance from Courtney McBride, Natalia Drozdiak, Ethan Bronner and Akayla Gardner.
(Updates throughout.)
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