Middle East latest: IDF confirms it is conducting airstrikes on Tehran – Sky News

The Israeli military said its strikes on Iran overnight were in response to “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel”. Iran earlier claimed the strikes caused “limited damage”.
Saturday 26 October 2024 09:50, UK
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Satellite images show what could be a potential impact on a missile base south of the Iranian capital of Tehran.
NASA’s FIRMS database, which uses satellites to detect active fires and thermal anomalies, detected heat from the location which lies around 6km from the southernmost part of Tehran -around 15km from central Tehran.
Israel’s military said earlier that IDF jets completed three waves of pre-dawn strikes against missile factories and other sites across Iran.
The United Arab Emirates has condemned Israel’s targeting of Iran and expressed “deep concern” over “continued escalation” in the region.
In a statement, the country’s foreign ministry emphasised the “importance of exercising the highest levels of restraint and wisdom to avoid risks and the expansion of conflict”.
Pakistan has also joined the joined the condemnation, saying the strikes “undermine path to regional peace and stability”.
It’s foreign office said the attack also marks a “dangerous escalation in an already volatile region”.
“Israel bears full responsibility for the current cycle of escalation and expansion of the conflict,” it said.
It comes after Saudi Arabia earlier branded the attack on Iran a “violation of its sovereignty” and international laws (see 7.27 post).
Two Iranian soldiers were killed in Israel’s strike on Iran overnight, the Tasnim news agency is reporting, citing an army statement.
In the statement, the Iranian army said the soldiers died “while countering projectiles” launched by Israel.
More details would be released “soon”, it said.
Sky News has not independently verified the report.
Israel’s decision not to attack strategic and economic targets in Iran “was wrong”, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has said.
Israel said it conducted “precise strikes on military targets” and Israeli officials said the attacks did not target nuclear or oil facilities.
In a post to X, Mr Lapid said: “The decision not to attack strategic and economic targets in Iran was wrong. 
“We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.”
Any Iranian response to Israel’s attack is unlikely to involve further missiles being aimed at Israeli territory and could instead come through Iranian proxies in the region, an analyst has said.
Robert Clark, a fellow at the Yorktown Institute and director of the defence and security unit at Civitas, told Sky News “there are still ways in which Iran can respond that are below the threshold of conflict or escalation”.
“I think that almost certainly there will be an Iranian response, but more than often we can see this through their wide use of proxies,” he said.
Iran has built a network of proxies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Mr Clark said Tehran was “unlikely to send more ballistic and cruise missiles into Tel Aviv, into Jerusalem directly”.
“That’s by no means certain. But I think the scale of the damage that we can see… does provide the ability for the Iranian regime to provide a much more curtailed response.”
Emirati airline flydubai has cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq, Israel and Jordan and diverted others today.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation in the region and amend our flight schedule accordingly,” the company said on its official X account.
Iran and neighbouring Iraq both closed their airspace in response to the Israeli attack, but reopened several hours later.
Israel’s attack on Iran looks to be the biggest since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s, says our international correspondent Adam Parsons, in Jerusalem.
It marks a “significant moment” in the “crucial relationship” between Israel and Tehran, he says.
“It’s been condemned by Saudi Arabia as being a violation of sovereignty. But it has been supported by the US and by the UK as showing Israel’s right to defence,” he adds.
Parsons says Israel “crucially” didn’t go after Iranian nuclear facilities and oil fields, and the attack “did what the United States wanted it to do”.
“They [Israel] haven’t gone to that highest level of provocation… but make no mistake, this is going to be portrayed in Iran as an act of war,” he says.
“The Israelis, and the Iranians will both now sit down and think ‘what happens next?’ That is a crucial question for this region.”
A former head of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) says Israel’s attack on Iran was a sign of “fear and flight”.
Mohsen Rezaee said in a post to X that Israel’s “aggression against Iran was more than a show of power, it was a story of their fear and flight”.
Israel said its attack was in response to Tehran’s ballistic missile assault on the country more than three weeks ago. 
Iran has downplayed the impact, saying “limited damage” was caused.
Iraq has reopened its airspace and resumed flights, according to state news agency INA, which cited the country’s transport ministry.
Baghdad suspended flights across all airports “due to regional tensions” shortly after Israel’s attack on Iran.
Analysis of flight tracking data shows commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon after the attack.
The UK’s prime minister is speaking from Samoa, where he has been for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
While the speech is focused on his visit, he briefly addresses Israel’s attack on Iran at the start.
“This is a live situation, and we are obviously monitoring it closely alongside our partners,” he says.
He reiterates that Israel “has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression”.
Sir Keir also urges “restraint” from both sides, adding: “Iran should not respond.”
“We will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region,” he says.
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