These strikes were a long time coming. For weeks, since Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel, the region has been waiting for the response.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed on Saturday morning local time it had performed “precise strikes on military targets”, and Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency confirmed that military installations had been hit.
Explosions were reported both outside Tehran and around the country in what initially appeared to be two waves of attacks.
IDF spokesman announces strikes
Yet as ever, it is in the Iranian regime’s interests to downplay the severity of the strikes on its soil so that it does not look weak to its people, to its allies and to its enemies abroad. And it is in Israel’s interests to remain tight-lipped