Iran is "entitled and obligated to defend itself against external aggressive acts,” its foreign ministry said on Saturday after Israel attacked the country with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes.
Calling the Israeli attack a violation of international law, the ministry said in a statement that Tehran "recognizes its responsibilities towards regional peace and security.”
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel earlier this month as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, though Iran insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks.
The army said four of its troops had been killed in the attack, Iran's Al-Alam television reported.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
It closed its airspace during the attack but Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said flights were resuming at 9 a.m., Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited strike it didn't openly claim.
In Lebanon, dozens were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israel airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
On Oct. 1, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation, sending Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries.
Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”
