Israel’s army trumpeted on Sunday it had shot down 99 percent of the drones and missiles that Iran admitted to firing as retaliation to an attack on its embassy in Damascus, Syria.
Israel said it had help from the United States and other allies in “foiling” Iran’s unprecedented attack.
As this developed, Iran urged Israel not to retaliate militarily, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus.
“The matter can be deemed concluded,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a post on social media platform X just a few hours after the operation started late Saturday.
“However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” the Iranian mission warned.
Iranian leaders have yet to speak out to justify the attack, which marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israeli territory.
Nonetheless, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps admitted its hand in the attack, saying it had launched “dozens of drones and missiles” towards military sites on Israeli territory.
“Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus” earlier this month, the Iranian mission to the UN also admitted.
The attack, according to the mission, was “conducted on the strength of Article 51 of the UN Charter pertaining to legitimate defense.” The Iranian army chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri said the attack has “achieved all its objectives.”
Bagheri said Iran’s retaliation targeted an “intelligence center” and the air base from which Tehran says the Israeli F-35 jets took off to strike the Damascus consulate on 1 April.
“Both these centers were significantly destroyed and put out of order,” he said, though Israel maintains that the attack only resulted in minor damage.
“There is no intention to continue this operation,” he said, calling on Israel to avoid taking further action against Iran, which, according to Bagheri, would result in a “much bigger” response.
Attack ‘telegraphed’
Experts have suggested that Saturday’s slow-moving drone attack was calibrated to represent a show of power but also allow some wiggle room.
“It appears that Iran telegraphed its attack on Israel to demonstrate it can strike using different capabilities, to complicate the (Israeli army’s) ability to neutralize the assault but also to provide an off-ramp to pause escalation,” said Nishank Motwani, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Washington.
“Tehran can escalate if it chooses to across a range of vectors,” said Motwani, including via Lebanon’s Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, sea attacks, “or hitting soft Israeli targets globally.”
Over the last two weeks, Iranian authorities had repeatedly vowed to “punish” Israel after the death of seven Guards, including two generals of the Quds Force, in the attack that leveled the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Iran has blamed Israel for the attack.
In the days after the strike, Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel would be “slapped for that action.”
Since a revolution in 1979 in Iran which toppled the US-backed Shah, Israel has been the sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic.
Iran has often called for the destruction of Israel, with support of the Palestinian cause, one of the pillars of the Islamic revolution.
However, until Saturday, Tehran had also refrained from a direct attack on Israel.
‘Next slap will be fiercer.’
Instead, it has backed members of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” against Israel, including Hezbollah and Yemen’s Tehran-aligned Huthi rebels, since the outbreak of war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas on 7 October.
Hours before the strikes on Saturday, Iran seized an Israeli-linked container ship in the Gulf, which Washington called “an act of piracy.”
During the night, Tehran also warned the United States, urging it to “stay away” from its conflict with Israel.
“Any threat by the terrorist government of America and the Zionist regime from any country will result in a reciprocal and proportionate response,” the Revolutionary Guards warned in a statement early Sunday.
Iran’s foreign ministry said that, if necessary, Tehran “will not hesitate to take defensive measures to protect its interests against any aggressive military action.”
“The next slap will be fiercer,” warned a new mural unveiled overnight in Tehran’s Palestine Square, where several thousands gathered, shouting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
Before Tehran launched its attack, Israel warned Iran that it would suffer “the consequences for choosing to escalate the situation any further.”
Israel has not revealed what a potential response would look like.
An Israeli attack on Iran’s territory, possibly targeting military or nuclear sites, could not be ruled out, according to experts.
As a precaution, Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, which is mainly dedicated to domestic flights, will remain closed on Sunday until noon (0830 GMT), according to the Mehr News Agency.
Several international airlines have suspended flights over Iranian airspace.
Countries including Russia and France have also asked their citizens to avoid traveling to Iran and Israel.
