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An Israeli missile blitz on 20 Iranian military sites on the weekend caused limited damage but will be avenged, Tehran says.
In a statement posted online, President Masoud Pezeshkian gave his condolences to the families of four people killed in the attacks and says Iran will continue to defend itself.
“Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence,” he wrote in his post.
Overseas media reports the Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
There was no indication that oil or nuclear sites were struck and Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage” as state media downplayed their impact.
An Israeli Defence Force spokesman said the attack was a response to continual attacks by Iran.
He said Iran and Hezbollah have attacked Israel on seven fronts since October 10 including from Iranian soil.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression”.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for the UN Security Council to condemn Israel for the attacks.
Saturday’s pre-dawn strikes reportedly killed two Iranian soldiers and two others and marked the first time Israel has openly attacked the country.
Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers as well as on military targets in central and southern Syria.
Iran’s military issued a carefully worded statement suggesting any ceasefire in Israel’s ground offensives in Gaza and Lebanon would trump any possible retaliatory strike.
The country’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that Israel had informed him before the strikes and said it looked like “they didn’t hit anything but military targets”.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s nuclear facilities were not impacted.
Britain and Germany said Iran should not respond while a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said: “All acts of escalation are condemnable and must stop”.
Saudi Arabia condemned the strike, calling it a violation of Iran’s ‘sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.’
Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed at least 53 people in Gaza and 21 people in Lebanon on Sunday as UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed shock at the “harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in northern Gaza.
Egypt proposed a limited two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israelis for Palestinian prisoners as negotiations to end the war resumed in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
Media outlet Al-Jazeera reported that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it used drones to attack a military target in the north of the occupied territories.
The umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, which said it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza as well as the people of Lebanon, had claimed three attacks on Israel on Sunday.
