Prime Minister Netanyahu Claims Israeli Attacks Hit Iran, Khamenei Says Don't Make It Up

F35I fighter jet Arir Israel reportedly participated in the October attack on Iran. (Wikimedia Commons/Amit Agronov/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israeli airstrikes "repulsed to hit" Iran's missile defenses and production, but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the damage to Saturday's attack was not unnecessary to exaggerate.

The fully armed mortal enemy has been involved in a cycle of retaliatory movement against each other for months, with Saturday's attack taking place after Iran's missile sequence on October 1, most of which Israel says was brought down by its air defenses.

"The air force attacked all of Iran. We hit hard on Iran's defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles aimed at us," Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a speech, calling the attack "exact and robust", saying the attack met all its goals.

On the other hand, Iran has yet to signal how they will respond to the long anticipated attack on Saturday, involving a number of fighter jets bombing targets near the capital Tehran and in western provinces of Islam and Khuzestan.

Khamenei said Israel's calculations "must be thwarted". The attack on Iran, which killed four soldiers and caused some damage, should not be exaggerated or exaggerated," he said.

Iranian parliamentary spokesman Mohammad Baqer Qallibaf said Iran had the right to defend itself and its response "would be certain, in accordance with the terms".

With wars raging in Gaza and Lebanon, direct confrontations between Israel and Iran are at risk of turning into regional clashes. But the day after the airstrikes, there are no signs the attack will trigger another escalation.

However, the fierce fighting in Lebanon between Iranian-backed Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which has risen sharply over the past few weeks, continued on Sunday with Israeli airstrikes killing eight people in a residential block intensively, medics said.

Separately, US President Joe Biden called for an end to the escalation that has raised fears of a broader Middle East war arising from the year-long Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza and Israel's push to southern Lebanon to stop Hezbollah from skyrocketing to northern Israel.