Israel warned Iran ahead of latest strike – Axios

Israel relayed a warning to Iran through several third parties ahead of its missile strike against the Islamic Republic on Saturday, Axios has reported, citing three anonymous sources. According to the media outlet, West Jerusalem indicated what type of targets it would attack, while cautioning Tehran against retaliating.

Early on Saturday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari reported that Israeli forces were conducting “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran. The operation, reportedly codenamed ‘Days of Repentance,’ was being launched “in response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel,” he clarified.

The “Israelis made it clear to the Iranians in advance what they are going to attack in general and what they are not going to attack,” Axios reported. The US media outlet asserted that this reflected an “attempt to limit the ongoing exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran and prevent a wider escalation.”

According to the report, Israel also warned the Islamic Republic against responding to its attack, threatening a more devastating strike if Tehran does retaliate.

Axios claimed that Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp was one of the channels used by Israel to convey its message to Iran. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the diplomat confirmed that he had spoken “with the Iranian Foreign Minister about war and the heightened tensions in the region.” He added that he had urged Tehran to exercise restraint.

“IAF aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the State of Israel over the last year,” according to an IDF statement. Moreover, the Jewish State claims to have struck the Islamic Republic’s surface-to-air missile capabilities.

Iran reopened its airspace at 9am local time (6am GMT), with the country’s National Air Defense Headquarters reporting that Israel’s “provocative” attack had resulted in “limited damage… in certain areas,” and that a more detailed assessment was still underway.

“The country’s integrated air defense system successfully intercepted and countered this aggressive action,” officials in Tehran asserted.

On October 1, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the killing of the Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as well as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general.