US President Joe Biden was aware of Israel’s plan to bomb Tehran on Saturday morning and even encouraged it as a way to deter further attacks.
A senior White House official announced that the president worked directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to craft a response that would serve to deter further acts against Israel while reducing the risk of further escalation.”
The official also stated that the White House “worked with the Israelis over the past few weeks to encourage Israel to carry out a targeted and proportionate response with low risk of civilian harm.”
“And that appears to have been precisely what happened tonight,” the official told DailyMail.com.
But the Israeli military has already issued a chilling ultimatum to Iran if the country decides to retaliate for the airstrikes.
Israel had attacked Iran with three waves of attacks in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The attacks affected around twenty places during the night
Iranian officials said the strikes caused only “limited” damage, stating that “the attack has been successfully intercepted and countered” by Iran’s “integrated air defense system.”
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari warned in a video posted on X that if Iranian officials counterattacked, Israel would be “forced to respond.”
“Our message is clear: all those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into a broader escalation will pay a high price,” he said.
“We have demonstrated today that we have both the ability and the determination to act decisively, and we are prepared in attack and defense to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”
Israel had hit Iran with three waves of attacks in the early hours of Saturday morning, focusing on “missile manufacturing facilities” that it claimed were used to produce the missiles Iran fired at the Jewish nation on October 1 .
It also attacked “additional Iranian surface-to-air missile arrays and air capabilities, which were aimed at restricting Israel’s freedom of air operation in Iran,” the Israeli military announced.
A senior White House official revealed that President Joe Biden worked directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to craft a response that would serve to deter further acts against Israel while reducing the risk of further escalation” before of Israel’s airstrikes against Iran on Saturday morning.
IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari warned that Israel would be “forced to respond” if Iran retaliated for its attack.
Israeli forces had previously said they were carrying out “precise strikes” against military targets in Tehran in response to what they called “the Iranian regime’s continued attacks against Israel.”
Several hours later, the Israeli military announced that it had completed its strikes on the Iranian capital, saying: ‘Our planes have returned home safely. The retaliation attack was completed and the mission was accomplished.”
The first attack targeted Iranian air defense systems, while the second and third targeted missile and drone bases as well as production sites. according to Axios journalist Barak Ravid.
The attacks hit about 20 locations overnight. according to the New York Times.
But Iranian officials said the strikes caused only “limited” damage, stating that “the attack has been successfully intercepted and countered” by Iran’s “integrated air defense system,” its state news agency IRNA reported.
He had earlier told concerned residents that several “loud explosions” heard across the city were linked to the country’s air defense systems.
The National Air Defense Headquarters went on to say that the Israeli strikes were a “provocative attack” but did not mention a possible response, saying only: “The scope of this incident is currently under investigation.” NBC News Reports.
A correspondent for Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen had also reported explosions outside Diyala and Salah al-Din in Iraq, the outlet published in X, while others claimed there were also explosions in Damascus, Syria.
Projectiles launched by Iran were intercepted by Israel over Jerusalem on October 1.
The Israeli strikes came in retaliation for Iran’s attack on October 1, in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel, in Iran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months.
While many of the missiles were shot down, dozens managed to hit the Nevatim air base, demonstrating that Iran could at least partially penetrate Israel’s sophisticated air defense systems at some of the country’s most protected sites.
Iran claimed they were in response to an Israeli strike that killed IRGC operations commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, according to Iran.
An Israeli military statement said Israel “has the right and duty to respond.”
“The Iranian regime and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” he said.
Israel has killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (pictured in 2015) in attacks in Beirut.
The attacks ultimately came just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the United States after a tour of the Middle East, where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to offer a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude Israel. Nuclear sites in Iran.
Amid the strikes, Hagari called on residents to be “alert and vigilant.”
Shortly after, communities in northern Israel were asked to take shelter amid a drone alert from Lebanon.
The Home Front Command issued an alert for a “hostile air intrusion” around the northern city of Nahariya and other parts of the Galilee.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were in a bunker at military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s office said.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has released an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and military officers at the underground IDF headquarters amid the attacks on Iran.
Iranian authorities had warned Israel not to launch an attack, saying any attack on Iran would face stronger retaliation.
The officials, on condition of anonymity, told the New York Times that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told his military to prepare various responses that will be implemented depending on the severity of Israel’s attack.
Widespread damage and a large number of casualties could provoke a strong reaction from Tehran, the officials said, adding that there may be no response if the attack is limited to military compounds.
Meanwhile, a major attack would trigger a response with up to 1,000 ballistic missiles, five times the amount used earlier this month in what was the largest attack on Israel in its history.
The ayatollah reportedly ordered such a tough response to be carried out if Iran attacks energy infrastructure or nuclear facilities, or assassinates senior officials, the officials said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly told his military to prepare various responses that would be implemented depending on the severity of Israel’s attack.
Still, the Israeli military has boasted that beheading Hezbollah was “not the end of our toolbox” and boasted that they can “catch up” with anyone who threatens them.
In a blatant mockery of the countries around them, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then shared a diagram of Hezbollah’s chain of command, where each leader had been marked as “Eliminated.”
In addition to this, three days ago Israel killed Hashem Safieddine, the supposed “next leader” of Hezollah in a bombing of his bunker.
Safieddine was a powerful cleric within Hezbollah’s ranks and was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah.
Another 25 Hezbollah leaders were also reportedly killed during the airstrike.
Israel published a graphic showing senior Hezbollah officials who had so far been “eliminated”, adding that they had “dismantled” the group.
Amid airstrikes in Iran on Saturday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Syrian air defenses intercepted “hostile targets” near Damascus.
“Our air defense is facing hostile targets in the skies around Damascus,” SANA said on Telegram after reporting “sounds of explosions” in the vicinity of the Syrian capital.
International flights began being diverted around western Iran as news of the attacks broke, flight tracking data showed.
Iran later announced that it had closed its airspace until 8:30 a.m. Israel time for more than four hours.