After Israel attacks

Iran stresses right to self-defense

Iranian soldiers

(Bild: APA/EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh)

Following the Israeli missile attacks, Iran has underlined its "right and duty to self-defense", but refrained from threatening immediate retaliation. The Iranian armed forces declared that Tehran reserves the right to respond to the attacks "at the appropriate time". 

Internationally, the Israeli attacks were followed by numerous calls for de-escalation. According to the Israeli army, it had flown air strikes against military targets in Iran on Saturday night. The attacks were in response to Iranian rocket fire on Israel almost four weeks earlier.

Iran: "A few radar systems" damaged
According to the latest information from the Iranian army, four of its soldiers were killed in the Israeli attacks. They were killed in defense, the state news agency IRNA reported, citing an army statement. However, the Iranian armed forces described the material damage caused by the rocket fire as "limited". Only "a few radar systems" were damaged.

80 missiles fired 
The Israeli army had previously announced that it had attacked Iranian missile production facilities and air defense systems. According to the report, 80 missiles were fired. The Iranian air defense confirmed attacks in the vicinity of Tehran and in two provinces bordering Iraq, Khuzestan in the southwest and Ilam in the west.

Thanks to the rapid response of the Iranian air defenses, "a large number of missiles were intercepted" and "the intrusion of enemy aircraft" into Iranian airspace was prevented, according to a statement by the General Staff of the Iranian army read out on Iranian state television on Saturday evening.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari described the firing on targets in Iran as a response to "the Iranian regime's attacks against the State of Israel, which have been ongoing for months".

Iran had fired around 200 missiles at Israel on October 1, most of which were intercepted. It was the second direct Iranian missile attack on Israel in six months. The previous missile attack on April 13 was the first time Iran had ever attacked Israel directly from its territory.

Military spokesman: "Will pay a high price"
Hagari warned Iran against further attacks on Saturday: "Our message is clear: all those who threaten the state of Israel (...) will pay a high price."

Daniel Hagari

(Bild: AFP)

"Permanent ceasefire" a priority for Iran
The Iranian Foreign Ministry declared that Iran had "the right and duty of self-defense". Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated on the official website of Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "I think we have shown that our determination to defend ourselves knows no bounds." However, the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces named "establishing a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon" as a priority.

Iran is allied with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, which has been at war with Israel since its major attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Tehran's partners in the region also include the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which opened a second front against Israel with permanent air strikes after the major Hamas attack.

Hezbollah described the Israeli airstrikes on Iran as a "dangerous escalation". For its part, the militia fired massive amounts of rockets at Israel on Saturday.

Calls for de-escalation came from numerous countries following the Israeli attacks against Iran. US President Biden said he hoped these attacks were "the end". He also noted that it looked as if the Israeli army had "hit nothing but military targets".

No nuclear facilities hit
In recent weeks, Biden had insisted that Israel not attack Iran's nuclear or oil facilities. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed on Saturday that no nuclear facilities had been hit in the Israeli attacks.