The Israeli attack involved over 100 aircraft, including F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters, traveling 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) and using heavy munitions.

[18] An Iranian news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported that military installations in western and southwestern Tehran, as well as bases in the Ilam and Khuzestan provinces, were attacked.

[19] The IDF stated it has completed "precise and targeted strikes" in response to "months of continuous attacks" from Iran and its proxies,[11] as well as a recent barrage of Iranian missiles on Israel on 1 October.

Iran has poured considerable resources into bolstering these groups’ military capabilities and fostering cohesion, aiming for a coordinated Axis effort to dismantle the Jewish state in any large-scale confrontation with Israel.

[32] Later that day and the next, thousands of communications devices (including pagers and walkie-talkies) exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, with Israel aiming to attack Hezbollah members.

[39] In response to the killings of Haniyeh, Nilforoushan, and Nasrallah, Iran struck Israel, damaging military bases,[40] in what was the largest attack of the 2024 Iran–Israel conflict.

[46] According to US officials speaking anonymously, Israel assured the Biden administration it would refrain from targeting Iran's nuclear and oil facilities, focusing instead on military sites.

The leaks also revealed the significant contribution of the United States' spying on Iran towards providing intelligence for Israel's planned military operations.

[11] The Jerusalem Post reported that over 100 aircraft, including F-35 Lightning II Adir stealth fighters from Nevatim Airbase, traveled roughly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) for the attack, deploying heavy munitions with extensive refueling support and the IAF rescue and search force Unit 669 on standby.

[66] Beginning at 1:48 a.m. local time, sirens and alarms went off continuously for 30 minutes across the Ankawa neighborhood of Erbil, Iraq, with loudspeakers at Irbil airport's military base repeating the word "bunkers".

[64] Explosions were also reported in the city of Karaj, located just west of Tehran,[65] and near Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Zanjan.

[79] David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear weapons inspector, noted that commercial satellite images, though low resolution, indicated that three buildings in Parchin were damaged, including two involved in mixing solid fuel for ballistic missile engines.

[20] The Iranian government threatened to hand out prison sentences of up to 10 years to civilians who provide evidence on the Israeli airstrikes to media deemed "hostile" by the regime.

[88] Iran's UN mission said that Israeli warplanes conducted the attacks via US-held Iraqi airspace, accusing the United States of being complicit in the incident.

On the same day, Gholamhossein Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the supreme leader's office, remarked that Iran would deliver "a fierce, tooth-breaking response" to Israel's "desperate action.

"[105] Iranian-born writer Arash Azizi reported that many Iranians felt "mostly relieved" as Israel's strikes avoided civilian infrastructure like oil refineries, power, and water facilities, as well as political and military officials.

[105] Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), observed that Iran appears to be minimizing the impact of the Israeli strike.

Iranian state media has refrained from reporting any damage, a move that Taleblu suggests is aimed at controlling public perception and helping the regime maintain its image internally.

[105] Jonathan Conricus, also a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that while a comprehensive assessment will depend on satellite analysis in the coming days, it is possible that "Tehran, with all of its regime targets and sensitive infrastructure, might now be totally exposed to future Israeli strikes.

"[83] Con Coughlin wrote in The Telegraph that the Israeli strikes on Iran "could ultimately prove to be the final nail in the Islamic Republic's coffin."

This situation raises questions among the Iranian public about "the wisdom of the regime investing so heavily in constructing its expansive terrorist infrastructure when ordinary civilians are struggling to make ends meet.

"[106] According to The Economist, the Israeli strikes "signalled the failure of Iran's national-security doctrine" that had been pursued for decades by current Supreme Leader Khamenei.

He now faces a critical juncture regarding alternative strategies while contending with domestic dissatisfaction with his ideology-driven foreign policy, as evidenced by the popular protest slogan "not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran."

"[107] Steven Erlanger argued in an article for The New York Times that Iran faces a difficult choice: while retaliating against Israel risks escalation "when its economy is struggling, its allies are faltering, its military vulnerability is clear and its leadership succession is in play," holding back could suggest weakness to its allies—"badly weakened by the Israeli military's tough response since Oct. 7"—as well as to hardliners at home.

[108] Zvika Klein, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, criticized the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt for diplomatically supporting Israel in the context of Israeli strikes on an Iranian base.