An Israeli strike on Iran damaged facilities at a secret military base that experts have linked in the past to Tehran’s nuclear weapons program and another site linked to its ballistic missile systems, satellite photos show.
Images analyzed by the Associated Press show that some of the damaged buildings are inside the Parchin military base, where the International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran has in the past tested high explosives that could activate a nuclear weapon.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA, Western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an active weapons program until 2003.
The other damage could be seen at the nearby Khojir military base, which analysts believe hides a system of underground tunnels and missile production sites.
Iran’s military has not acknowledged damage in either Khojir or Parchin from Israel’s strike early Saturday, although it has said the attack killed four Iranian soldiers working on the country’s air defense systems.
Photos of Israel’s military preparing for retaliatory attacks against Iran
These satellite photographs from Planet Labs PBC show damaged buildings at the Parchin Iranian military base outside Tehran, Iran.
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at the Iranian Khojir military base outside Tehran, Iran.
In a statement published in X, President Masoud Pezeshkian offered his deepest condolences to the families of the four people killed in the attacks and said Iran would continue to defend itself.
“Iran’s enemies should know that these brave people fearlessly defend their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence,” he wrote.
The Israeli military said its planes targeted facilities Iran used to manufacture missiles fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Israeli military.
Iran’s supreme leader has said Israel’s attack “should neither be exaggerated nor minimized,” stopping short of calling for retaliation.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks on Sunday are the latest to suggest that Iran is carefully weighing its response to the attack.
“It is up to the authorities to determine how to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime and take measures that serve the interests of this nation and this country,” said Khamenei, who has the final say on all important issues. decisions in Iran.
Cascading conflicts in the Middle East have raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant allies, which also include Houthi rebels in Yemen and armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
Officials attend a memorial ceremony marking the first Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, October 27, 2024.
A view of the fighter jet preparing before the Israeli army’s attack on Iran, on October 26, 2024 in Israel.
An Israeli Air Force armed plane takes off from an unknown location to attack Iran
Earlier, Iran’s president warned against further attacks on his country after Israel hit military sites in pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday.
In a statement on the social media site
“Iran’s enemies should know that these brave people fearlessly defend their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence,” he wrote.
The Israeli military said its planes targeted facilities Iran used to manufacture missiles fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
There was no indication that any oil or nuclear sites had been hit and Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage.”
US President Joe Biden told reporters that Israel had informed him beforehand of the attacks and said it appeared they “hit nothing but military targets.”
His administration obtained assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not attack nuclear or oil facilities. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s nuclear facilities were not affected.
“I hope this is the end,” Biden said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that “Iran should not make the mistake of responding to Israel’s attacks, which should mark the end of this exchange,” according to Gen. division Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.