US official speaks out as Israel bombs Tehran

A top US official has spoken out as Israel launched retaliatory strikes in Tehran on Friday.

‘We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st,’ Sean Savett, White House National Security Council spokesperson, told CNN.

‘We would refer you to the Israeli government for more information on their operation,’ he said.

Israel notified the White House ahead of the strikes, a source familiar with the discussions told the network .

White House officials also said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the strikes and is monitoring the situation from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

The Israeli Defense Forces announced on X earlier Friday night that it is conducting ‘precise strikes’ on military targets in Iran in response to what it called ‘the continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against Israel’. 

‘The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since Oct. 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,’ the IDF said.

It noted that Israel ‘has the right and the duty to respond.’

The Israeli military also said that it had ‘fully mobilized’ its offensive and defensive capabilities as it carried out the strikes on military targets in Iran.

An Israeli military statement said that Israel ‘has the right and the duty to respond’, although it did not elaborate on targets

Iranian launched projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem on October 1

Israeli officials went on to say the decision to retaliate came after weeks of deliberations within its security cabinet about the nature and scope of such an attack.

Officials also spoke with their counterparts in the United States, including a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden, Israeli officials told CNN.

They ultimately chose to strike only military targets ‘that posed a threat or could pose a threat,’ the outlet reports. 

Witnesses in Tehran have since confirmed hearing loud explosions, with one saying: ‘It was so loud and the sky became red.’

But local media has reported that several of those explosions were related to the country’s air defense systems. 

The Middle East has been on edge in anticipation of Israeli retaliation for the attack on October 1, in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel.

It marked Iran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months, after it launched about 300 missiles and drones in April.

Iranian officials claimed they were in response to an Israeli attack that killed IRGC operations commander Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, according to Iran. 

Israel’s retaliatory strike finally occurred just as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back to America following a tour of the Middle East, in which he and other US officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear sites in Iran.

Iranian authorities had also warned Israel against launching an attack, saying any strike on Iran would be met with a stronger retaliation. 

The country has previously sent out persistent warnings to Israel that it will ‘not last long’ as it presses on with operations in Lebanon and Gaza. 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly told his armed forces to prepare several responses to be implemented depending on the severity of Israel’s strike

Iranian officials, under condition of anonymity, have since told the New York Times that Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told his armed forces to prepare several responses to be implemented depending on the severity of Israel’s strike.

Widespread damage and a high number of casualties could provoke a sharp reaction from Tehran, the officials said, adding there may be no response if the attack is limited to military compounds.

Focus has fallen on the various oil refineries and nuclear sites of economic and strategic value to Iran in the wake of its blistering assault on Israel earlier this month. Israel was said to have assured allies in the US it would steer clear of valuable sites.

But the officials said a major attack could trigger a response with as many as 1,000 ballistic missiles – fivefold the number used earlier this month in what was its largest attack on Israel in its history.

The Ayatollah has allegedly ordered that such a heavy response should be carried out if Iran hits energy infrastructure or nuclear facilities, or assassinates senior officials, the officials said.