Iran says it has right to defend itself after Israeli strike kills soldiers

The US has urged Iran not to retaliate against the latest Israeli strikes against it.

“If Iran chooses to respond once again, we will be ready, and there will be consequences for Iran once again,” a statement by senior administration officials said.

It added that the US did not want to see this happen.

“This should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran,” the statement went on, adding that Washington was prepared to “lead an effort to secure an end to the war in Lebanon” and try to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, together with the return of hostages seized from Israel.

It’s just gone 07:30 in the Iranian capital Tehran, after a turbulent start to the day following Israeli air strikes.

It’s difficult to determine the extent of the damage, and there is little in these shots of the city skyline to suggest anything unusual.

The Biden administration has said Israel has the right to defend itself and respond to the Iranian attack early this month.

But the president told Israel he would not support an attack targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities over concerns it could trigger another escalation in the widening conflict.

He also suggested the US would not back an Israeli strike on Iran’s oil infrastructure.

“If I were in [Israel’s] shoes, I would be thinking about other alternatives than striking Iranian oil fields,” he said on 4 October.

This month he urged Israel to be proportionate in its response to strikes from Iran.

Israel has said the strikes taking place are on military targets in Iran.

More now on the IDF statement issued after completion of the strikes.

The Israeli military says it carried out Saturday’s air strikes on Iran based on intelligence, and its IAF aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at Israel in the last year.

“Simultaneously, the IDF struck surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities, that were intended to restrict Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran,” the statement adds.

Israel says Iran’s attacks in April and October, as well as its support for its proxies in the region, “undermine regional stability and security, and the global economy”.

Earlier Israel said its attacks were focused on military targets in Iran, and now Tehran appears to have confirmed this.

Iran’s air defence forces said in a statement that bases in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces were attacked.

They said the attacks had been successfully countered but that there was “limited damage” in some locations.

One expert who spoke live on BBC News says the posturing from Iran on the strikes being unsuccessful could point to the regime “setting the stage to de-escalate”.

But, Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace focusing on US foreign policy, warned it’s still early and a lot could change.

“We’re reading tea leaves,” he says.

Reacting to news that Israel has launched air strikes on Iran, a UK government spokesman says London is “monitoring this situation closely”.

“We support Israel’s right to self-defence and to protect itself in line with international humanitarian law. Further escalation is in no-one’s interest,” the statement adds.

The Israel Defense Forces says strikes on Iranian military targets have finished.

“A short while ago, the IDF completed precise and targeted strikes against military targets in a number of areas in Iran,” a statement said.

“Our planes have safely returned home.”

Iran has closed its airspace amid the Israeli strikes, Reuters reports, citing the country’s state media agency Irna.

The country cancelled all flights until further notice, a spokesperson for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation told Irna.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken to his counterpart in Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, according to two defence officials who spoke with CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner.

Did Israel heed US warnings on Iran strikes?published at 03:37 British Summer Time 26 October

Sebastian Usher
Middle East regional editor

Iranian state media has acknowledged that there have been explosions in and around the capital, Tehran. But there’s no clarity as yet in precisely what the targets have been and whether they have been successfully hit by Israel.

News sites close to the Revolutionary Guards have said that some military bases were targeted. But for now at least, Iranian media is playing down the impact.

The true nature of what has happened is only likely to trickle out bit by bit from the Iranian authorities. Israel may move more quickly to disclose the details of its attack, but that may depend on whether or not it plans to carry out another wave.

The Pentagon has given a briefing that the US was made aware of Israel’s plans beforehand, and that there was no US involvement in the operation. That’s significant in Washington’s efforts to try to prevent the conflict between Israel and Iran escalating into a confrontation that could move ever closer to all-out war. The US will also be waiting for the dust to settle to see if Israel’s targets were limited to military targets or went beyond that to include facilities linked to Iran’s nuclear programme – which could trigger another major response from Tehran.

For now – on the scant evidence that is available – Israel may have heeded Washington’s warnings and reined in some of its more ambitious plans to cause maximum pain to the Iranian authorities.

Iraq’s Minister of Transport says it is closing the country’s airspace amid the ongoing military operation in the region.

All air traffic at all airports has been suspended until further notice “due to regional tensions,” Reuters reported, quoting Iraqi state news agency INA.

BBC Persian reporter Bahman Kalbasi describes how residents of Tehran woke up from loud sounds of explosions early on Saturday morning, with many taking to social media to discuss what they had heard.

While Kalbasi explains that Persian social media was filled with such posts, there are not yet many verifiable images available of the situation in Tehran following the strikes.

If you’re just joining us, here is what we know so far about Israel’s air strikes in Iran:

• Israel has confirmed it launched “precise strikes on military targets in Iran”. It is unclear what sites were hit and the extent of the damage. The US has previously warned Israel to avoid striking nuclear and oil sites that could trigger a widening conflict in the region
• The strikes come after Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles on Israel earlier this month. Israel had said it would strike back but did not detail when or what sites it might target. Iran’s attack had come following Israeli strikes that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran Revolutionary Guards Corp Quds Force operations commander Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan.
• So far, Iranian state media has dismissed the attacks as unsuccessful, which experts tell the BBC is a typical response from Iran after such incidents. But, experts warn, that might change if reports of severe damage or deaths surface
• Blasts have also been reported in Syria, though Israel has not claimed responsibility in those attacks. Syrian air defence forces intercepted missiles and shot them down, according to Reuters and AFP news agencies, citing Syrian state media
• The US was not involved in the attack, according to the Pentagon. The White House called the strikes an “exercise of self-defence”. US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris have been briefed on the strikes and are following developments

Israel’s military operation on Iran was still ongoing as of just before 5 am local time in Tehran, an Israeli official has confirmed to BBC’s US news partner CBS.

Explosions have also been heard near Syria’s capital of Damascus, Reuters news agency and AFP news agency report, both citing Syrian state TV.

The strikes targeted military sites in central and southern Syria, according to Reuters, citing the Syrian state news agency Sana.

Syrian air defence forces intercepted the missiles and shot them down, state TV says, according to Reuters and AFP.

Bahman Kalbasi, of BBC Persian, has just shared some insight into what is happening right now in Iran.

He said that Iranian state media is currently denying these attacks caused any real damage and is saying they were unsuccessful. That has historically been a typical response from Iran when it has been the target of an attack, Kalbasi said.

“It could be a face-saving way for them to end this tit-for-tat,” Kalbasi said. But that strategy could erode if there is proof showing the extent of the damage or if there are casualties, he added.

Both US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is campaigning in Texas tonight, have been briefed on Israel’s strike on Iran.

The president “has been briefed and is closely following the developments,” a US official told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

Reuters news agency reports Harris has also been briefed and is following any developments.

The pictures and video on Iran’s semi-official regime media outlets are trying to portray a message of calm, but it stands in stark contrast to what we are seeing on social media in the country, Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, tells the BBC.

It’s unclear if Israel is going after just production facilities for missiles or the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) force aerospace network, says Taleblu, who focuses on Iranian security and political issues.

“Based on targets we are seeing so far, this is designed to defang – but not destroy – the Iranian long-range missile threat,” he says.

The US had no involvement in Israel’s strikes in Iran early on Saturday, a US defence official told the BBC, adding that Washington had been informed of the operation beforehand.