The United States aims for 'the conclusion' of direct exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran. It remains uncertain at this point.
The airstrikes "should signal the conclusion of this intense back-and-forth combat between Israel and Iran," commented a senior official from the American administration, following the attacks.
Following reports of explosions in Tehran, Israel publicly declared that it had carried out "targeted assaults on military facilities" in Iran during the early hours of Saturday. This action was in response to Iran's barrage of missiles aimed at Israel on October 1, in retaliation for the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others.
Iran claimed that Israel had hit significant sections of military centers located in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam, resulting in only "minimal damage" in certain areas.
Iran appeared to play down the Israeli strike, according to Iranian experts. State media broadcast footage of a peaceful Tehran, with traffic moving and people going about their daily routines on the streets.
Iran's foreign ministry denounced the attack, labeling it a "blatant violation" of international law. The ministry also stated that Iran has the right and obligation to protect itself following the Israeli strikes.
Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, DC, suggested that Iran's restrained response may be an attempt to "de-escalate the situation" rather than an accurate reflection of the damage Israel inflicted on Iran, similar to Israel's efforts to conceal damage caused by Iran's attack on October 1.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense for Democracies in Washington, DC, agreed, stating that Iran's restrained response may be a "strategic move to preserve face and maintain US pressure on Israel."
After several hours of strikes on Saturday, the Israeli military announced that it had targeted manufacturing sites used for producing missiles that Iran had sent to Israel over the past year. Israel also claimed to have struck Iran's aerial defense systems at the beginning of Saturday in order to allow its aircraft to attack the other targets.
Israel's decision to attack early on Saturday morning came after weeks of deliberations within its security cabinet regarding the nature and scope of such an attack, Israeli officials revealed.
American officials emphasized the precision of Israel's attack, especially as the US urged Israel not to target Iran's energy infrastructure for fear of sparking a larger conflict. It appears that Israel followed this guidance, according to initial assessments.
Following Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran, National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett stated that the White House encourages "Iran to cease attacking Israel in order to bring an end to this cycle of violence without further escalation."
Danny Citrinowicz, a research fellow with the Iran Program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and a retired Israel Defense Intelligence officer who focused on Iran, expressed uncertainty about the coming hours and days. "However, one thing is undeniable," he stated, "Israel and Iran came closer than ever before to the brink of direct war last night."
"The ball is now in the Iranian leadership's court," Citrinowicz noted, adding that the Iranian regime is likely facing a familiar dilemma: to retaliate for reputational reasons, or to consider Israel's attack as an end to the direct conflict.
Parsi of the Quincy Institute stated that if Iran chooses to exercise restraint, "then this chapter may be concluded, yet the conflict will remain very much alive."
When Iran chose to exercise restraint after Israel's retaliation in April, it emboldened Israel to target key Hezbollah leaders in Beirut, which sparked the next round of aggression.
Experts say that while Israel continues its conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, any pause in the direct fighting between Iran and Israel is likely to be brief.
As long as these regional conflicts persist, experts predict that the overall trajectory of the Israel-Iran conflict will intensify. "While we may see some tactical de-escalation, the trajectory remains escalatory," Parsi stated, adding, "A fresh round of conflict between Israel and Iran is only a matter of time, and this round will likely be more severe."
Israel has consistently strived to push back Iran and its Iranian proxies into a deterrence mentality. However, experts argue that Israel's strategy may not be entirely effective.
"Iran will not be deterred from escalating in the future if it considers it necessary," H.A. Hellyer, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies in London, told CNN's Paula Newton, "Deterrence is often used as an excuse by the attacking state, but ultimately leads to more regional instability."
"It does not de-escalate through escalation," Hellyer noted, "which is the most amazing thing I've ever heard."
CNN's Samantha Waldenberg, Artemis Moshtaghian, Alex Stambaugh, Eugenia Yosef, Jeremy Diamond, Chris Lau, and Mostafa Salem contributed reporting.
The escalation in the Middle East has raised global concerns, as the world watches the tension between Israel and Iran unfold. The intervention in Iran by Israel has sparked a series of retaliatory actions, indicating a potential prolongation of the conflict.
