Iran says two soldiers were killed in Israeli attacks on military bases | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Iranian army said two soldiers were killed in Israeli airstrikes on military bases after Israel said it had “completed” its attack and warned of any retaliation.

The Israeli army attacked military sites in Iran after 2 a.m. on Saturday (10:30 p.m. GMT on Friday), responding to what it said were months of attacks by “Iran and its proxies” in the region.

Hours later, the Israeli military said it had “completed” the attacks and “achieved its objectives.”

Iran's air defense headquarters confirmed in a statement that bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces were hit, but the attacks were “successfully repelled.”

“However, there was minor damage in some areas and the extent of the incident is currently under investigation,” it said.

Iran has also signaled its willingness to respond to any Israeli “aggression,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources who said: “There is no doubt that Israel will respond appropriately to any action it takes.” will expect.”

In a report from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar said that while Israel attacked several locations across Iran, including the north, east and south, the focus of the attacks was on the Iranian capital.

“The attacks primarily targeted Iran’s air defense systems, missile bases and drone facilities,” he added.

“Currently, Iranian officials report no casualties and claim that their integrated, multi-layered air defense system worked effectively, portraying the situation as a success.”

Meanwhile, Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) said flights across the country had returned to normal.

Neither Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport nor other airports were attacked.

Former Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video statement: “The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7… including direct attacks from Iranian soil.”

He said Israel had “the right and the obligation to respond.”

Israel's response was long-awaited after Iran launched a rocket barrage in early October that fired about 200 rockets at Israel and killed one person in the occupied West Bank.

Iran said the attack was in retaliation for attacks in recent months that killed leaders of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas and the Iranian military.

US calls on Iran to break “spiral of fighting”.

After the Israeli attacks, the United States called on Iran to stop attacks on Israel to break the cycle of violence.

“We call on Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.

“Their response was an exercise in self-defense and explicitly avoided populated areas and focused exclusively on military targets, in stark contrast to Iran's attack on Israel, which targeted Israel's most populous city,” he added.

He stressed that the US had not taken part in the operation and said: “It is our goal to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.”

Several countries condemned the strikes and called for restraint.

Analyst Abas Aslani said this was the first time Israel had admitted a direct attack on Iran, with Tehran downplaying the impact and Israel exaggerating its successes.

“This suggests that … Israel may be encouraged by the US to avoid an all-out war in the region,” Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera from Tehran.

“The initial assessment and initial response here in Tehran suggests that a serious or significant response, a direct response against Israel, may not have been as likely.”

However, he added that a reaction from Iran could be expected.

Tensions between arch-rivals Israel and Iran have increased following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, at least 42,847 people have been killed and 100,544 injured in Israel's war on Gaza.

Fears that Iran and the United States could become embroiled in a regional war have increased with Israel's stepped-up attack on Hezbollah since last month, including airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and a ground operation.