Netanyahu claims Israel “severely damaged” Iranian defenses despite Tehran’s denial

In his first comments on the raids, Netanyahu said that Israel had promised to respond firmly to the Iranian ballistic missile strike earlier this month.

“In the early hours of Saturday morning, we kept our promise and severely damaged Iran’s defense capacity and its ability to produce missiles that work against us,” Netanyahu stated.

“Yesterday we hit the head of the octopus. To the people of Iran I say – our struggle against a tyrannical regime that threatens the entire region. Whoever hurts us, we hurt them.”

Netanyahu thanked the US for “close coordination and assistance” in the IDF strikes on Iran, and said the attack “achieved all its objectives”.

Joe Biden administration officials have announced that Washington was not directly involved with the strike but had been consulting closely with Tel Aviv.

On Saturday, the Iranian Air Defense Forces said in a statement that the country’s integrated air defense system successfully intercepted and countered the Israeli strikes targeting military locations in Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam provinces.

The attacks caused limited damage in some locations and the dimensions of the incident are under investigation, the statement added.

The Iranian Army also announced that four of its servicemen had been martyred in the raids.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also condemned the Israeli assault as a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, reiterating the country’s right to defend itself against foreign acts of aggression.