Retaliation against missile attack; Israel carries out airstrikes in Iran

TEL AVIV: Israel on Saturday launched a retaliatory attack against Iran, targeting its military centres, 25 days after Iran's October 1 missile attack. Although the world feared that Israel would attack nuclear facilities in Iran, it rather targeted Iran's military centres, killing two Iranian soldiers in the airstrike. The Israeli mission is named "Days of Repentance".

Meanwhile, Iran has announced that it would retaliate against the attack. With this, the situation has turned so bad that a war may break out between the two countries anytime soon. This will further exacerbate the West Asian conflict.

Explosions rocked Tehran, Karaj, and Mashhad. Military centres in Syria were also attacked at the same time. Israel announced all fighter jets have returned safely. This is the first time Israel has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack on Iran.

On Friday night, a secret security cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave approval for the attack. The details were also shared with the US. The attack began early yesterday morning.

Planned to attack nuclear centres, US opposed move
According to reports, Israel had initially planned to attack nuclear plants and oil refineries in Iran. However, the United States, its ally, disagreed with the move. The US warned that attacking nuclear centres would change the nature of the war. Subsequently, Israel decided to target only military centres.

Explosions reported from 4 am to 8 am

• Fighter jets arrived in Iran at 4 am Indian Standard Time
• Blasts were reported in various places, including Tehran
• Series of attacks in provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan
• Airstrikes concluded and jets returned by 8 am
• Suspended flight services resumed operation at 11 am

100 fighter jets, proper planning
1. Israel used 100 warplanes to attack Iran, including state-of-the-art fighter jets such as F-35 Adir, F-15I Attack Jets, and F-16I Defense Jets.
2. The attack was carried out in three phases. In the first round, air defence systems were destroyed. Later, missile and drone bases and their manufacturing centres were attacked.
3. The attack strategy involved dividing the fighter jets into groups of 30 each. Various missiles, including rampage supersonic missiles, were used. Ten fighter jets swooped down to drop bombs.