Iran is gearing up to “respond” to Israel’s recent attacks, according to Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, as reported by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Sunday.
This comes after Israeli fighter jets launched a series of attacks on Iranian military targets on October 26, which was preceded by Iran firing around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel a few weeks prior.
Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against Israel’s attacks, and it seems they’re now preparing to make good on that promise.
On October 26, Israeli Defence Forces struck military sites in Iran, saying it was retaliating against Tehran’s missile attack on Israel.
Hours later, the Israeli military said it had completed the strikes and achieved its objectives, warning Iran not to respond.
A semi-official Iranian news agency vowed a “proportional reaction” to the Israeli moves against Tehran.
Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in the capital and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2am.
Before dawn, Israel’s public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed and that the operation was over.
Iran said its air defence system successfully countered Israel’s attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam with “limited damage” to some locations.
Tensions between arch rivals Israel and Iran escalated after Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group based in Gaza, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas has been supported by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, also backed by Iran.