Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reacted cautiously to the Israeli attack. He said Israel's attack should not be "exaggerated or minimized". He also did not mention any immediate retaliation or countermeasures.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, said Iran would "respond appropriately" to the attack. But he said Tehran did not want war. Four Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack on Saturday.
The country's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said they had received the news of the Israeli attack hours earlier.
Israel says it has attacked military installations in various parts of the country in response to attacks by Iran. On October 1, Iran launched nearly two hundred ballistic missiles at Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel has disabled Iran's air defense system and missile production system. He said the attack had severely damaged Iran's defense and missile capabilities.
"The attack was precise and powerful and the target was achieved," Netanyahu said at an event. The ceremony was held in memory of the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year in Israel.
"The (Iranian) government must realize a simple principle: whoever hurts us, we will hurt him."
Iranian officials have publicly downplayed the impact of the Israeli strike. They said most of the missiles were intercepted. And those that could not be intercepted caused little damage to the air defense system.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made comments for the first time after the attack. "It will be up to the authorities to determine how they will convey the will and power of the Iranian people to the Israeli government and take measures to protect the interests of the country and nation," he said.
President Pezeshkian also spoke in the tone of his country's supreme leader. In a cabinet meeting he said: "We do not want war, but will uphold the rights of our country and nation".
But the scale of Israel's attacks was much more limited than observers had thought. The US has openly pressured Israel not to attack Iran's oil and nuclear facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that they had "received an indication" of the Israeli attack hours before.
"We were getting hints about a possible night attack since the evening," Abbas Araghchi told reporters. However, he did not give any detailed information.
Western countries called on Iran not to take any action in response to the attack by Israel. They fear that a cycle of counterattacks could push the region into an all-out war.
Iranian state media broadcast footage of normal life after the attack. Observers say this was done deliberately to reassure the public.
Meanwhile, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza continue to fight Israel.
At least eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Sunday, local authorities said. Later, Lebanese authorities said that a total of twenty-one people were killed in the attack in the south of the country.
Meanwhile, nine people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school-cum-shelter in Al Shati refugee camp in Gaza.
Palestinian media and news agency Reuters said three of the dead were Palestinian journalists.
On the other hand, a truck hit a bus near a military base in Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring thirty. However, authorities are treating the incident as a 'suspected terrorist attack'.
Iran's media claimed life in Tehran was normal during the Israeli attack. Image source, GETTY IMAGES
image captionIranian media claimed that life in Tehran remained normal during the Israeli attack.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza. Among them, four Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were exchanged.
He said that after such a temporary ceasefire within ten days, talks should be started on making it permanent.
However, a senior Hamas official told the BBC Arabic section that Israel had been rejecting its terms for a ceasefire for months and that the situation had not changed.
Sami Abu Zuhri said they remained steadfast in their demand for a full ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and a prisoner exchange agreement.
"Any contract is meaningless unless these conditions are guaranteed".
Incidentally, on October 7 last year, twelve people were killed and 251 hostages were taken by Hamas in Israel.
After that, 42,924 people have died in Israel's counterattack in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
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