TEHRAN: Iran said Israeli air strikes targeting its military sites killed two soldiers on Saturday (Oct 26), after Israel said its warplanes carried out raids in retaliation for a missile barrage.
Here is what we know:
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Israeli army said it conducted “precise strikes on military targets in Iran” on Saturday.
Explosions were heard in Tehran from around 2.15am (6.45 am, Singapore time), AFP journalists in the Iranian capital said.
Iranian state television said the blasts were caused by the “activation of the air defence system” in response to an Israeli attack.
The Israeli military said it simultaneously struck missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air missile arrays and other “aerial capabilities”.
It said later that the air attack had “concluded” its response to Iran’s Oct 1 missile attack, saying its warplanes had returned safely and the mission was “fulfilled”.
Iran’s air force confirmed strikes on military bases in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces that “caused limited damage”.
The army said two soldiers were killed, while the country’s civil aviation authority announced the resumption of flights after a brief suspension.
The foreign ministry said Iran had the “right and the duty to defend itself”, citing the United Nations Charter.
State media in Syria said Israel also launched air strikes on its territory from the occupied Golan Heights and Lebanon.
Iran and Syria are allies in the so-called “axis of resistance” that also includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at a northern Israel intelligence base and drones at an airbase in the south of the country. The Israeli military said that around 80 projectiles were fired.
