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In a major escalation, Israel launched two waves of strikes against Iran on June 8 morning, hitting radar sites and petrochemical facilities.
The strikes came after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel late the previous day, in the first such attack since the ceasefire with the United States entered into effect more than a month ago. The Islamic Republic fired the missiles in response to an earlier Israeli attack that targeted the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut — a stronghold of Hezbollah.
Following the first wave of strikes on Iran, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that it struck military targets in the western and central regions of the Islamic Republic.
Sounds of explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, as well as in the cities of Tabriz and Isfahan, according to Iranian media, which also said that 15 targets were hit. Some reports indicated that Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran was among the targeted sites.
Meanwhile, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV reported that one of the targets was a drone storage facility in the Iranian capital.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that the strikes were carried out using air-launched ballistic missiles.
The second wave of Israeli strikes hit the Karun Mahshahr Petrochemical Company in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, according to the Fars News Agency. This was later confirmed by the IDF, which said it struck “several targets” at the petrochemical complex in the Mahshahr area, with further details to be provided later.
The response from the Islamic Republic came quickly, with the IRGC announcing that it struck Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases in Israel.
“The operation was carried out in response to a missile attack launched by the Zionist regime… against several radar sites in three different places” in Iran, the guards in a statement.
Sirens had sounded across northern Israel and in the center of Israel more than once during the morning, with interception of several ballistic missiles reported by Hebrew media. Still, impacts were documented.
Amid this escalation — the most serious since the ceasefire entered into effect on April 8 — a U.S. official told Axios that the American military did not take part in the overnight Israeli strikes on Iran. The unnamed officials also described the exchange of strikes as “relatively limited.”
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on any retaliation amid ongoing diplomacy with the Islamic Republic, and Axios had reported that the Israeli premier “pseudo-agreed” to the American demand.
While the U.S. is clearly attempting to play down the ongoing clash, a return to war seems the most likely outcome. The clash came following weeks of escalation, which also saw the Islamic Republic and the U.S. exchange strikes in the Persian Gulf more than once.
Major differences remain in place between the two sides, who are not even working on a comprehensive deal, rather on a temporary memorandum of understanding.
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