Four Iranian soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes on military sites in Iran early Saturday.
The attack came almost a month after a barrage of ballistic missiles fired by Tehran hit at least three military and intelligence installations in Israel.
The Iranian ballistic missile attack on 1 October was itself a much-anticipated reprisal for the assassinations of resistance leaders Hasan Nasrallah and Ismail Haniyeh, the latter while a guest of the state in Tehran.
Iran initially said on Saturday that the Israeli attack caused “limited damage” and claimed its air defense systems intercepted many of the missiles.
On Sunday, remarks by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were more circumspect. He said that the attack “should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated.”
He added that security for the Iranian people would be ensured by the strength of the state in all sectors. Officials will determine “what needs to be done and do whatever is in the best interests of this country and nation” following the Israeli strikes.
Khamenei’s comments fit the pattern of caution and careful deliberation exercised by Iran since the current exchange with Israel began in April, when Israel bombed Tehran’s embassy in Damascus. Several Iranian officials were killed in that attack, including a top commander in the elite revolutionary guards…..more
