Calling the Israeli attack a violation of international law, the ministry said in a statement that Tehran "recognizes its responsibilities towards regional peace and security.”
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel earlier this month as well as surface-to-air missile sites.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, though Iran insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks.
The army said two of its troops had been killed in the attack, Iran's Al-Alam television reported.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
It closed its airspace during the attack but Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said flights were resuming at 9 a.m., Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel in April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited strike it didn't openly claim.
In Lebanon, dozens were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israel airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
On Oct. 1, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation, sending Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries.
Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”The United States, Germany and UK urged Iran on Saturday to stop attacking Israel to break the cycle of violence after Israel launched strikes against the Islamic republic in retaliation for a missile barrage.
while Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tukiye condemned on Saturday the military targeting of Iran, denouncing it as a violation of Tehran’s sovereignty and a breach of international laws and norms, state news agency SPA reported.
In a statement, the Kingdom and other states urged all involved parties to exercise maximum restraint and to work toward de-escalation and warned of the grave consequences that prolonged military confrontations could have on the region.
Saudi Arabia reiterated its steadfast stance against the ongoing escalation in the region and the widening scope of conflicts that threaten the security and stability of neighboring countries.
It called on the international community to fulfill their responsibilities in promoting peace, reducing tensions, and supporting efforts to end conflicts in the Middle East.
“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.
“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,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, speaking at a press conference in Samoa, where he has been attending a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The Israeli military conducted air strikes against Iran on Saturday, hitting military bases and missile sites, and other systems in several regions.
“Their response was an exercise in self-defense and specifically avoided populated areas and focused solely on military targets, contrary to Iran’s attack against Israel that targeted Israel’s most populous city,” he added.
Stressing that the United States did not participate in the operation, he said “it is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.”
A senior administration official said President Joe Biden and his national security team have worked with the “Israelis over recent weeks to encourage Israel to conduct a response that was targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm.”
“And that appears to have been precisely what transpired this evening,” the official told reporters.
President Biden had encouraged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to design a response that served to deter further attacks against Israel while reducing risks of further escalation, and that is our objective.”
German chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Iran to end the cycle of escalation following Israeli strikes on Iranian military sites early on Saturday, saying restraint could pave the way for peace in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
"My message to Iran is clear: We cannot continue with massive reactions of escalation. This must end now," Scholz said in a post on social media platform X.
"This will provide an opportunity for peaceful development in the Middle East," he added.
Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday, but its retaliation for an Iranian attack this month did not appear aimed at the country's most sensitive oil and nuclear targets after urgent calls from allies and neighbors for restraint.
