Iran says Israel used US airspace in Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iranian army said on Saturday that Israel used airspace provided by the United States inside Iraq to launch its attack on Iran.

“Enemy Zionist aircraft, in a blatant violation of international law, used airspace provided by the US terrorist military in Iraq to launch a number of long-range, air-based missiles with very light warheads - about one-fifth the weight of Iranian ballistic missile warheads - toward several border radars in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and around Tehran,” read a statement from the general staff of the Iranian armed forces.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the missiles were launched “approximately 100 kilometers from Iran’s borders.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to a lawful and legitimate response at the appropriate time,” the statement added, and renewed a call for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

US forces, located at several bases around the country, are in Iraq at the invitation of the federal government as part of the global coalition to combat the Islamic State (ISIS). The mission is scheduled to wrap up in September 2025.

Israel carried out strikes on several Iranian targets early Saturday morning, around 2 am local time.

Iran’s air defense system command said in a statement that Israel targeted military bases in the capital Tehran, the western province of Ilam and the southwestern province of Khuzestan. It claimed that the missiles were “intercepted” and that the damage was “limited,” reported the state-owned IRNA news agency. 

The army said that four Iranian soldiers were killed.

Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), said the strikes were in response to Tehran’s attacks on Israel. 

“The Israeli Defence Forces has fulfilled its mission. If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond,” he said in a televised statement. 

Iran has directly attacked Israel twice. The first time was in April when Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones in retaliation for a deadly strike on its embassy that Tehran blamed on Israel. The second time was on October 1 in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and an IRGC commander.

Following that attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had made a “big mistake and it will pay for it.” 

Tensions between the arch rivals escalated after the Palestinian Hamas movement carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, sparking an ongoing war that has spread to Lebanon.