Last night, the IDF announced that Israel was targeting military installations in Iran with airstrikes in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on October 1st. Later on, it issued another statement stating that it had “concluded” its attack, which consisted of “targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran.” Nuclear and oil infrastructure was not targeted, as U.S. officials had reportedly pressed Israel to avoid them. Israel said that it would be “obligated to respond” in the event of an Iranian counterattack. A senior U.S. administration official stated that Israel’s attack against Iran “should be the end of the direct military exchange” between the two countries
The official also explained that prior to the attack, the Biden White House had asked Israel to “design a response that served to deter further attacks against Israel, while reducing risk of further escalation.” Iranian officials downplayed the attack on state media, calling it “weak,” but also a “major escalation.” Ali Asghar Nakhaei, a leader in Iran’s parliament, said Israel “does not dare to do something serious.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that the country had an obligation and a right to self-defense, but at the same time was “cognizant of its responsibilities for regional peace and security.”
Israel stated that its strikes targeted missile manufacturing facilities that produced the arms used for Iran’s missile volleys in October and April. They also hit surface-to-air missile arrays and other military infrastructure meant to deny “Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran.” According to the Iranian state news agency IRNA, 4 Iranians were killed in the attack. Speaking to ABC News, a senior White House official stated that “this should be the end of direct military exchange between Israel and Iran.”
Iran and Israel have been engaged in an escalating conflict that is increasingly defined by use of conventional weapons and open attacks, taking the place of subterfuge and use of proxies. While this is the first Israeli attack on Iran’s contiguous territory, Israel technically already attacked Iranian soil on April 1st, when it launched a missile strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing 16 people, including 8 Iranian military officials. That attack has launched this latest series of exchanges between the countries, as Iran has responded to that strike with its own missile attack on April 13th, and then again on October 1st after Israel’s Lebanon bombing that killed Hassan Nasrallah and an IRGC commander.
Iran’s attacks have so far been more or less thwarted by Israel’s robust anti-missile defense systems, with only 1 dead between the April 13th and October 1st attacks. The United States recently added to those defenses by sending its THAAD missile defense system and associated crews to Israel for the first time.
