Earlier in the morning, the Israeli Air Force carried out attacks on military targets in central and western Iran, the Israeli military said. This was in retaliation for Iran's shelling of Israel, which occurred hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from striking.
“Moments ago, the Israeli Air Force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terrorist regime in western and central Iran,” the Israeli army said on the X platform.
Iran confirms attacks. Explosions in several cities
Information about the attacks in Iran was confirmed by the Iranian IRNA agency, stating that it was an attack using air-to-ground ballistic missiles (ALBM). The explosion occurred in several cities, including: Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran.
The military said the Israeli Air Force struck “several targets” at a petrochemical complex in the Mahshahr area. According to the Iran International website, the Karoun petrochemical plant in Khuzestan province, located in southwestern Iran on the Persian Gulf, was damaged in the Israeli attack.
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Jechiel Leiter, stated that Israel attacked Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers and infrastructure unrelated to the energy sector. He also announced that Israel would attack Hezbollah's command centers in southern Beirut if the Iran-backed group began shelling Israel.
In a post on X, the ambassador explained why Israel fired back despite pressure from President Trump to show restraint. “Iran fired 11 ballistic missiles towards Israel today. Each of these missiles could level an entire neighborhood and kill hundreds of people. No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither would Israel,” he said.
An Israeli official told Maariv daily on Monday that Israel's attacks on Iran “were carried out in cooperation with the United States and the Trump administration.”
