Israeli strikes on Iran 'should be the end of it' says US after warnings over nuclear sites heeded
by Chay Quinn · LBCBy Chay Quinn
Israeli strikes on Iran 'should be the end of it', US officials have said after the missiles avoided nuclear and oil sites in the Middle East.
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A senior US official said that the airstrikes “should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran" after the attacks.
National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said the White House urges “Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation.”
Read More: Iran vows revenge after Israel launches three waves of strikes against military targets
Nuclear and oil sites were spared in the blitz, after the US had warned Israel not to hit the high-value targets.
Despite this, Iran has vowed to take revenge after Israel carried out "precise strikes on military targets" on its territory overnight.
Tehran said it was entitled and obligated to defend itself against foreign acts of aggression", after the airstrikes, which are said to have killed two soldiers.
Israel said the strikes were in response to what it called "the continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against Israel".
The attacks did not target nuclear or oil facilities, two Israeli officials said. Israel said early on Saturday morning that its missions had been completed successfully and its planes had returned home.
Iran said later that Israel's attacks constituted "gross violations of international law and the UN charter".
Hamas, the Gaza terrorist group battling Israel, said: "This is a clear violation of Iran’s sovereignty and an escalation aimed at undermining regional security and the security of its people."
Western allies of Israel have urged Iran not to take further action, and said that all sides should work towards de-escalation.
Israel's attack on Iran was 'smart' says expert
Keir Starmer said: "I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression and I am equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint.
"Iran should not respond.
"We will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region."
Starmer added: "On the question of the strikes, I think we need to be really clear that Israel does have the right to defend itself, but we are urging, and have been urging all sides to show restraint, and that's why I'm very clear today, Iran should not be responding to this.
"And those are really important messages of de-escalation that at this moment in time, I think it's very important everybody needs to heed."
A senior White House official said the administration believed the Israeli operation should "close out" the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran, saying other allies were in agreement.
An Israeli military statement said that Israel "has the right and the duty to respond."
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 - on seven fronts - including direct attacks from Iranian soil," the statement read. It also did not elaborate on the targets.
Iranian state television later identified some of the blasts as coming from air defence systems.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital Tehran, although the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only "limited damage."
Israel's hours-long attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted "missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year."
It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sites and "additional Iranian aerial capabilities".
"The Israel Defence Forces has fulfilled its mission," Mr Hagari said in a later video.
"If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond."
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7... including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video statement.
"Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond."
Iran's military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces and caused "limited damage," without elaborating.
Iran's state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.
But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television for hours offered no other details and even began showing what it described as live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an apparent attempt to downplay the assault.
Iran closed the country's airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
In Syria, the state news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, reported missile fire targeting military sites in the country's central and southern regions.
It said that Syria's air defences had shot some of the missiles down. There was no immediate information on casualties.