Tehran, Iran - October 26, 2024

Israel's latest strikes on Iran may worsen the regional situation and trigger a full-scale war in the Middle East, said several Lebanese political and military experts.

Israel conducted airstrikes on Iran early Saturday, which killed at least four soldiers in the country. According to Iran's Fars News Agency, preliminary investigations showed that military bases in western and southwestern Tehran had been attacked by Israel.

Saturday's Israeli attack came in response to Iran's missile strike on October 1, itself a retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said early on Saturday that Israel had completed what it called retaliatory "precise and targeted" airstrikes on military targets in Iran earlier in the day.

According to the Iranian government, the domestic situation is normal and the damage was limited.

This round of attacks was the first time Israel has openly and directly launched an attack on Iranian territory.

Shotlist:
Tehran, Iran - Oct 26, 2024:
1. Tehran's air defense system intercepting missiles over Iranian military camp;
Beirut, Lebanon - Recent
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Qabalan, expert on regional affairs (starting with shot 1):
"Israel's strikes were carefully planned by the United States. The U.S. hopes from the beginning that Israel would avoid attacking Iran's oil facilities and avoid exacerbating the global oil crisis and rising oil prices. The U.S. also hopes to avoid attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel's strikes were limited to Iran's military facilities. Seeing from the reactions of both Israel and Iran, the effect of this round of attacks was minimal.";
Tehran, Iran - Oct 26, 2024
3. Tehran's air defense system intercepting targets over Iranian military camp;
Beirut, Lebanon - Recent
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Qabalan, expert on regional affairs:
"The strikes this time was done entirely under the direction of the United States, which shows that the United States, not Israel, has the final say on regional issues. It is different from the issues concerning Lebanon and Palestine.";
FILE: Iran - Date Unknown
5. Various of cityscape, traffic, national flags of Iran;
Beirut, Lebanon - Recent
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham Jaber, retired brigadier general/military expert:
"If Iran finds that the damage is serious, then it may consider retaliation. However, if, as the current situation shows, there is no huge damage, then this attack is more like a bluffing action. In this situation, Iran may choose to refrain from taking retaliatory actions.";
FILE: Tehran, Iran - April 10, 2023
7. Various of national flags of Iran, cityscape, traffic.


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