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Israel carried out a series of airstrikes against Iran on Saturday, the Israeli military said.
The strikes seen and heard by residents in the capital, Tehran, came weeks after Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, forcing millions of Israelis to take cover in bomb shelters. Iran said its attack early this month was in retaliation for Israel’s killing of an Iranian commander and several leaders of Iranian-backed groups in the region.
The recent exchanges of air attacks by Israel and Iran have ruptured their longstanding practice of avoiding direct military clashes.
Here’s a look at everything we know about the Israeli military action against Iran and the events that brought the countries to this point.
Here’s what you need to know:
What happened?How have Israel and Iran arrived at this point?What were Israel’s targets?What are Israel’s military capabilities?What is the U.S. government’s stance?
What happened?
The Israeli military said in a statement at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday that it was “conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” saying it was acting in response to more than a year of attacks on Israel by Iran and its allies across the Middle East. It was a rare acknowledgment by Israel of military activity on Iranian territory.
Residents of Tehran reported hearing explosions in and around the city. Just after 6 a.m., the military said the strikes had concluded. Israeli officials said the attack was over by about 5 a.m., after 20 targets had been struck.
What Israel Hit in the Airstrikes
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Israel struck air defense
systems in Syria and Iraq to
prevent those countries from
intercepting the attacks.
Israel continued
airstrikes in Gaza
and Lebanon.
Syria
Tehran
province
Ilam
LEBANON
IrAQ
GAZA
Iran
ISRAEL
Israel struck military sites in three provinces, including Tehran. Earlier this month, Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel.
Khuzestan
SAUDI
ARABIA
OMAN
300 miles
Israel struck air defense systems in Syria and Iraq to prevent those countries from intercepting the attacks.
Israel continued
airstrikes in Lebanon
and Gaza.
Syria
Tehran
province
lebanon
IrAQ
IRAN
Ilam
gaza
Israel struck military sites in three provinces, including Tehran. Earlier this month, Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel.
ISRAEL
Khuzestan
Red
Sea
SAUDI
ARABIA
Persian
Gulf
300 miles
Gulf of Oman
Iran has much stronger air defenses than Lebanon and Yemen, but Israel has shown that it may have an edge.
In April, in retaliation for Iran’s first missile barrage, an Israeli airstrike damaged an S-300 antiaircraft system near Natanz, a city in central Iran critical to the country’s nuclear weapons program. Western and Iranian officials said that Israel had deployed aerial drones and at least one missile fired from a warplane in that attack.
That strike showed that Israel could bypass Iran’s defensive systems and paralyze them.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington research institution, Israel has additional options: Jericho 2 medium-range ballistic missiles, which can reach targets about 2,000 miles away, and Jericho 3 intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which can reach targets more than 4,000 miles away.
What is the U.S. government’s stance?
President Biden said this month that he would not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. The White House on Saturday expressed support for Israel’s operation, calling it targeted and proportionate.
A U.S. official said Saturday that Israel had alerted Biden administration officials ahead of the strikes but declined to specify how far in advance.
Some analysts have said that the looming U.S. presidential election and the fact that Mr. Biden is not seeking a second term may have made it harder for the administration to influence and potentially limit Israeli action.
A White House official briefing reporters on Saturday said the administration believed the Israeli attack should be the end of the military exchanges between Israel and Iran, but that the United States would again come to Israel’s defense if Iran retaliates.
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