The Israeli army has conducted strikes on military installations within Iran. This action comes as a response to what the Israeli authorities claim have been relentless attacks over recent months by ‘Iran and its proxies’ across the region.
In these military operations, Iran’s armed forces report that two soldiers have tragically been killed. The Israeli strikes specifically targeted military bases located within the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran.
In a briefing following the attacks, a senior official of the Biden administration told reporters that “This should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran.”
The official said this is the “very strong view” of the U.S. and “it’s been communicated to our partners throughout the region.”
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the attack in a statement on Saturday, asserting Iran’s “inherent right to self-defense,” but added that the country will uphold its “responsibilities for regional peace and stability,” making no mention of imminent retaliation.
The Iranian army said two soldiers were killed in the attacks, without adding further details. It also said the strikes targeted military centers in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam, but downplayed the attack, saying “damage was limited,” and that its defense forces “successfully intercepted” the strike.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in July that Iran does not seek a wider war in the Middle East and that such a conflict would have no winners, something Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed last week, saying “if a major war breaks out in the region, America will be dragged into it, which is something we do not want.”
The Iranian government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said that “only limited damage has been done”, and that the pride of Iranians had been strengthened by their response to the attacks.
Shahabeddin Tabatabaei, a reformist member of the information council of the Iranian government, wrote in his account on X: “The fake regime’s attack was defeated by the country’s integrated air defence system.”
Hesamoddin Ashena, an adviser to Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani, wrote: “You played with the lion’s tail. This is not Palestine, nor Lebanon, Iraq, nor Afghanistan. This is Iran.”
Some of the big military and political players in Iran have yet to make statements