Iran’s president warns against further attacks after Israel airstrikes hit military targets

Iran’s president has warned against further attacks on his country after Israel targeted military sites in pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday.

In a statement on X, Masoud Pezeshkian gave his condolences to the families of the four people killed in the attacks and said Iran would 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.

Analysis:
Scale of any retaliation will dictate whether Iran and Israel are on path to all-out war
US pressure over Israel’s retaliation against Iran appears to have paid off – for now

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.

Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage” with state-run media downplaying their impact.

Iran’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression”.

However, late on Saturday, 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 Israel had informed him before the strikes and said it looked like “they didn’t hit anything but military targets”.

His administration won assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not hit nuclear facilities and oil installations.

Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets”, saying on X that “we could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran”.

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.”