Transcript of Israel has hit Tehran and other sites in Iran with retaliatory air strikes | BBC News

Israel has launched multiple air strikes on Iran in response to what the Israeli military called months of continuous attacks from Tehran and its proxies. The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out precise strikes on military targets in Iran, which it accuses of relentlessly attacking Israel since October the seventh, last year. The IDF's confirmation of strikes on Iran followed earlier reports by Iranian state media of several explosions in and around the capital, Tehran. Tehran. It comes after Tehran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel on the first of October, in what the country said was a retaliation for the killing of Hamas's political leader on Iranian soil back in July. A news agency close to Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that some military bases in the West and Southwest of the Iranian capital had been targeted. We've received these pictures from Tehran, where you can hear explosions in the background. Let's take a look. Meanwhile, the Israeli government released these pictures of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yohav Galant following the strikes from the operation room of the Israel Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. Earlier, the IDF spokesman, Daniel Hagari, made this statement about the airstrikes.

The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission. If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond. Our message is clear. All those who threaten the state of Israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price. We demonstrated today that we have both the capability and the resolve to act decisively, and we are prepared on offense and defense to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel.

So let's bring you up to date with the latest developments. Israel says it has concluded strikes on Iranian military targets, and all its planes have returned home safely. Earlier, Israel said it had have conducted precise strikes on military targets in Iran as blasts were heard in Tehran. Military bases in the west and southwest of the capital have been targeted, according to an Iranian news agency close to the country's Revolutionary Guards. Iranian state media is so far denying that the attacks caused any real damage, according to BBC Pershing. The Pentagon says the US was briefed on the strikes beforehand, but did not have any involvement in the Well, we've had reaction to the strikes from the UK Prime Minister, Sakeer Stama. He was speaking from Samoa. He warned Iran not to respond to the latest strikes.

I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I'm equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. Iran should not respond. We will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region.

Well, let's give you some more of the international reaction to this news. The US has urgent Iran not to retaliate against the latest Israeli strikes against it. A statement from senior US officials says, If Iran chooses to respond, once again, we will be ready and there will be consequences for Iran. Saudi Arabia has condemned military targeting of Iran and is calling for restraint and de-escalation, according to the state news agency. Reacting to news that Israel has launched an air strike on Iran, including that statement from the Prime Minister, a UK government spokesman says London is monitoring this situation closely, saying, We support Israel's right to self-defense and to protect itself in line with international humanitarian law. Further escalation, the statement says, is in no one's interest. Us. Well, our Chief International Correspondent, Lise Douzet, joined me a little earlier to give me some context on this.

This is, to use your expression, a very critical moment. All eyes were on Israel to see how it would respond. It was known it would respond. It made that absolutely clear. And the United States backing it to the Hill, said, Israel has the right to respond. But the question is, what would the targets be? And now we know, at least, what the information is available. It didn't hit nuclear sites. It didn't hit oil refineries. It hit, at least what we know so far, both from the Iranian and from the Israeli side, military targets. So that's in the range of what was expected. The United States is already saying that should be it. I think now we have to wait because in the run up to this, Iran made it clear that it would retaliate. But as you've been reporting, they're trying to downplay how significant it was. It will depend if there if there's damage and if there's any casualties.

Just give us a sense of the conversations that might be happening within Tehran. A lot has been said about moderates and Conservatives within the Iranian government. How would they be taking stock of these developments?

There is the President who won in the recent elections is regarded as a reformist, you would say, but it is the Conservatives and the ultra Conservatives who literally call the shots Most of all, the Supreme Leader at the top, Ayatollah Hamaneh, 86 years old. He is the one who has the final say. He is also the Commander-in-Chief. He is surrounded by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who have been many of whom have been putting pressure on him into saying that we have to be seen to respond because of our conservative base inside the country, because of our allies in the so-called Axis of Resistance. After the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, not just a very close proxy, but a very close friend of the Supreme Leader and many others. The killing of the Hamas political leader on Iranian soil, the killing of quite a few Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They said they had to respond and be seen to respond. Now, there will be discussion, again, at those highest levels, the Supreme Leader and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to see what they must do next. An interesting line in the Israeli report so far is that they have caused considerable damage to Iran's air defense system.

In other words, if Israel goes in again and hits other targets, it will have greater freedom of maneuver because it has disabled Iran's defenses. So Iran knows. We don't know the exact extent to the damage. It seems there has been some. Israel said it carried attacked about 20 sites in three waves. Iran may have to consider, is it more vulnerable now Will the next time, will it get messages indirectly from the Americans and the Israelis saying, Okay, this time we hit military targets. Next time it could be oil refineries, which would have a crippling effect on an already damaged economy and even more nuclear sites. I think we have to say, Katherine, is that the answer to that might be what happens in the American elections. How much room to maneuver does Israel have?

We've talked a lot about how this has been a shadow war between Israel and Iran. Now it's an open conflict. Just tell us how much of a shift this is for the dynamics that we see in the Middle East.

Huge dynamics. Iran has always regarded, especially its most important partner, proxy, Hezbollah in Iran as a forward defense, something which keeps Iran at a distance because, of course, Lebanon is right on Israel's border. And in recent years, how Hamas also became part of this defense. Again, right on Israel's border, you also have militias which have been armed and trained by Iran, in Syria, in Iraq, and even further in Yemen. And the Yemenis, I mean, I was in Tel Aviv recently, a missile fired from Yemen, landed close by in Tel Aviv. So they have both the ability and the will to target as well. All of those allies in this Ring of Fire, as Iran called it, have been degraded, if not significantly, destroyed. So Iran knows it's got to look towards itself now. In the second of its attacks on Israel, it used 180 ballistic missiles. And this is why there is a lot of discussion in Iran now about whether it will seek to pursue nuclear weapons, although the Supreme Leader has always said there's an Islamic fatwa against that, is widely believe Iran, not too far away from developing weapons capability, but it may to provoke Iran into completely reconsidering its strategy.

But I think, Catherine, one of the things which is always said about Iran, and I don't think this has changed, even though this last year has been completely unprecedented in every way for the entire region, is that it always plays a long game. It's like to talk about its so-called strategic patience. Well, that has been tested in every single way for Iran, including, of course, now with these direct strikes between Iran and Israel. So it's a momentous time, and it comes when the Supreme Leader is 86 years old. He's still in charge, it seems, but of course, he's 86 years old.

You mentioned there, Iran's nuclear program, and of course, that's of key interest to the United States. What impacts do you think a change in administration in the US could have on the dynamics that were seen between Israel and Iran?

It's hard to be certain because Because if, for example, it's a Trump, President Trump returns to power, he is known to be quite unpredictable, quite transactional. He likes to see himself as a pacemaker, the man who can end wars in a day. He has already, though, been criticizing President Biden for trying to restrict Israel's room to maneuver. He has said, You shouldn't be putting any restrictions, giving the impression that if it is his administration Administration, and of course, whoever wins only takes power, formally in January, could he say, Don't listen to what Biden said about not hitting oil installations, although President Trump may... That would put oil prices up. But nuclear, he may say, Right, go for it, to end this once and for all. We just don't know. The Biden Administration, of course, President Biden has, over the months since the Gaza War began, become more and more critical in public, and then must mean certainly in private. He said, again, in recent days, the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza and in Lebanon has to stop. He's been very clear in public about not hitting nuclear sites and oil installations. Will that change after the elections?

They will, of course, not be worried about an impact on the elections, but I think they would be very, very reluctant for... In fact, I think they would be opposed to any strikes on the nuclear facilities. The repercussions are just too enormous.

Right now, Now, a lot of focus is on what's happening in Northern Gaza. And this weekend, we were expecting, or we are expecting talks to resume once again in Qatar with Israel and the US sending its envoices to Qatar for mediation talks. When we see these developments happening now in the Middle East, how do they fit into this effort to try and reach peace in Gaza, and crucially, Lebanon as well?

They're all linked together. The beating heart is, of course, the war in Gaza. That's what started it. Of course, the October seventh, unprecedented atrocities by Hamas in Southern Israel. That now led to a constant widening and intensifying of this war. The biggest arc is, of course, this direct confrontation, and most dangerous between Iran and Israel. The resumption of ceasefire talks. They've been basically dormant for weeks, came after Antony Blinken did another shuttle around the region. Yesterday, he was in London meeting Arab Foreign Minister ministers. There doesn't seem to be much hope in that. I think they want to be seen to be doing it, perhaps in preparation. It's noticeable. There's a lot of talk about focusing on the day after the ceasefire as well. And again, it's generally believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to wait and see who wins the US election. His military generals have been saying for some time, We believe the military objectives in Gaza have been achieved. We should prioritize the bringing home of the hostages. Of course, they have killed the mastermind, the person regarded as the mastermind of October seventh, Yaya Sinwaar. Prime Minister Netanyahu, after that, said it is not the end of the war, but the beginning of the end.

So he may be looking towards ending it. But when he does, it will very much be on his own terms and at his own time. And meanwhile, they seem to be intensifying in Lebanon. And of late, we've seen the images of Prime Minister Netanyahu in the control room last night, overseeing the strikes. This, of course, has been the main focus now, but they've got eyes on a number. They say at least seven fronts.

And that was our Chief International Correspondent, Lise Doucet.