Israel sent a message to Iran on Friday ahead of its retaliatory airstrikes warning the Iranians not to respond, three sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios, SİA reports.
The Israeli message was an attempt to limit the ongoing exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran and prevent a wider escalation, the sources said. U.S. and Israeli officials said three waves of airstrikes took place on Saturday morning local time.
The first wave focused on Iran's air defense system and the second and third waves focused on missile and drone bases and weapons' productions sites. Iran said it defeated the Israeli attack and that only "limited damage" was done to military targets around the country.
Israeli officials said the attack was in retaliation for Iran's massive ballistic missile attack on October 1. The Israeli message was conveyed to the Iranians through several third parties, the sources said. "The Israelis made it clear to the Iranians in advance what they are going to attack in general and what they are not going to attack," one source told Axios.
Two other sources said Israel warned the Iranians not to respond to the attack and stressed that if Iran does retaliate, Israel would conduct another more significant attack, especially if Israeli civilians are killed or injured. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office did not respond for a request for comment. Iran has said it doesn't want a full-blown war with Israel but that it would retaliate if attacked. "This should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran," the official added. "If Iran attacks Israel again there will be consequences. We communicated that directly and indirectly to Iran."
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