By Abigail BeDard
Early Saturday morning, Israel launched a series of retaliatory strikes against Iran, the latest in a series of blows traded between the two nations. These recent Israeli strikes are reported to have hit military targets across three provinces in Iran: Tehran, Ilam and Khuzestan. Though Khuzestan is the center of Iran’s gas and oil refineries, it does not appear that any of these facilities were struck after the Biden administration urged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to avoid targeting any nuclear or oil facilities and causing further regional escalation.
The New York Times reported that around 100 combat aircraft took off from Israel early Saturday morning, first targeting radar and air defense systems in Syria and Iraq in order to avoid detection. With the path cleared, Israeli fighter jets then flew the rest of the approximately 1,000-mile journey to Iran, where the primary wave of strikes targeted Iran’s air defense systems, while a secondary wave is reported to have struck Iran’s long-range missile production sites.
Iranian State media outlets downplayed the attacks, sharing cheery broadcasts on Saturday morning following the strikes and claiming that all was well. Tasnim, an news agency affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard published articles claiming that, “The Israeli army’s claim that it has targeted 20 locations across Iran is untrue, noting that the number of locations targeted by the enemy is significantly lower than that” and that the strikes had caused only “limited damage”. Iranian sources later reported that two soldiers had been killed in the strikes. The Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to the attacks, stating that Iran is “entitled and obligated to defend itself”.
The IDF released a video via X of Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari addressing the attacks on Saturday morning. Hagari stated that the IDF, “…conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel”. He went on to claim that if Iran retaliates, Israel, “will be obligated to respond”.While both Israel and Iran have cited sovereignty and the right to self-defense as the motivation for their attacks, many countries have urged restraint following these most recent strikes. US National Security Council spokesperson, Sean Savett, issued a statement calling on Iran to “cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also issued a response to the attacks, urging Iran not to retaliate and calling for restraint from all sides. Despite these calls for de-escalation, it is unlikely that Iran will allow this attack to go unanswered, though experts are debating if the response will be another direct attack on Israel, or if Iran will use its proxy forces, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen to retaliate against Israel.
The Patterson Journal of International Affairs 
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