Israel Strikes Iran As Payback For Missile Attack, Risking Escalation Of Mideast Wars

It marked the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn't faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military sites in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage.”

The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel. It also marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.

Israel’s hourslong attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted “missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.” It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sties and “additional Iranian aerial capabilities.”

Israel offered no initial damage assessment.

Initially, nuclear facilities and oil installations all had been seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack, but in mid-October the Biden administration believed it had won assurances from Israel that it would not hit such targets, which would be a more severe escalation.