AMN WEB DESK
Israel has said that it has completed a major assault on Iran after more than a year of fighting, which began with an attack by Iranian proxy group Hamas on the Jewish state and has grown into a multifront conflict directly involving Tehran and its other regional proxies.
In a statement issued early Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes safely returned home after conducting “precise and targeted strikes against military targets in a number of areas in Iran.” It issued the statement about four hours after the first reports emerged of explosions in Iran around 2:30 a.m. Tehran time.
“Based on intelligence, Israel air force aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at Israel over the last year,” the IDF said. “These missiles posed a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of Israel. 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.”
Later Saturday, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said there had been no Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
“Iran’s nuclear facilities have not been impacted. IAEA inspectors are safe and continue their vital work. I call for prudence and restraint from actions that could jeopardize the safety & security of nuclear & other radioactive materials,” Rafael Mariano Grossi wrote on social media platform X.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that the Israeli airstrikes achieved their objectives but did not immediately provide evidence.