Iran plays down Israel's strikes, says they caused 'limited damage'

Iran on Saturday played down Israel's overnight air attack against Iranian military targets, saying it caused only limited damage, as U.S. President Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.

Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, Israel's military said.

It was retaliation for Iran's Oct. 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles, and Israel warned its heavily armed arch-foe not to hit back after the latest strike.

Iran condemned the Israeli raid and its foreign ministry said Iran was "entitled and obligated" to defend itself. But it added that it "recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security," a more conciliatory statement than after previous bouts of escalation.

Iran's military said the Israeli warplanes used "very light warheads" to target border radar systems in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan and around Tehran.

"Enemy planes were prevented from entering the country's airspace... and the attack caused limited damage," Iran's military joint staff said in a statement.

David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear weapons inspector, said low-resolution commercial satellite imagery appeared to show that one Israeli strike hit the sprawling Parchin military complex near Tehran, damaging three buildings, including two where solid fuel was mixed for ballistic missile engines.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have grown rapidly since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas, raising fears of a wider regional conflict that could drag in global powers and imperil world energy supplies.

Worsening conflict in Lebanon, where