Israel Strikes Back: A Look at the Recent Conflict with Iran

Early Saturday morning, Israel decided to hit back at Iran with a series of military strikes. These strikes were in response to a ballistic missile attack that Iran launched on Israel on October 1st. The Israeli military described the strikes as precise hits on military targets in Iran. However, there was no immediate information on the damage caused by these strikes. The conflict between Israel and Iran has been ongoing for a while now. Iran has been attacking Israel since October 7th on various fronts, including direct attacks from their own soil. Israel, like any other country, has the right and duty to respond to such attacks. In Tehran, the capital of Iran, the sound of explosions could be heard. The state-run media in Iran acknowledged the blasts and mentioned that some of the sounds were from air defense systems around the city. A resident in Tehran reported hearing at least seven explosions, which rattled the surrounding area. In addition to the strikes on Iran, state media in Syria also reported that their air defenses targeted "hostile targets. " Iran has launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent months, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel has also launched a ground invasion of Lebanon. The strikes by Israel happened just as the U. S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was returning to the U. S. after a tour of the Middle East. During his tour, he and other U. S. officials had warned Israel to avoid further escalating the conflict in the region and to exclude nuclear sites in Iran. Israel had previously promised to hit Iran hard following a massive missile barrage by Iran on October 1st. Iran claimed that its barrage was in response to deadly Israeli attacks against its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Iran has vowed to respond to any retaliatory strikes by Israel. Israel and Iran have been enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat due to its calls for Israel's destruction, support for anti-Israel militant groups, and its nuclear program. The two countries have been engaged in a shadow war for years. Recently, the conflict has moved into the open, with Israel targeting Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began. Throughout the year, several top Iranian military figures have been killed in Israeli strikes in Syria and Lebanon. Iran's response to the killing of two of its generals in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria was a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel. However, this response caused minimal damage, and Israel responded with a limited strike under pressure from Western countries to show restraint. After Iran's early October missile strike, Israel promised a tougher response.