New Delhi

Israel remains in contact with its allies and is keeping them updated on developments in the Middle East following its “pre-emptive” strike on Iran, Israeli military officials said on Saturday.

The remarks came hours after Israel launched air strikes in Tehran, describing the action as a move to neutralise what it termed an existential threat posed by Iran. The operation was carried out amid heightened tensions and follows a US military build-up in the region.

Responding to a question on whether regional partners, including India, were informed in advance, Israeli military officials said they maintain regular communication with allies.

“As always, we remain in contact with our different allies in the region and keep them updated. Some are involved in defence cooperation, as they have been in various ways before in relation to Iran,” the officials said, without naming specific countries.

An Israeli official also expressed appreciation for India. “First of all, I want to say that we love the Indian people. For many years, we have seen your support, and we truly value and appreciate it,” the official said.

Objective: remove ‘existential threats’

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said, “The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel.”

Military officials said the objective is “to degrade the Iranian regime’s capabilities and remove existential threats to the State of Israel.”

They described the threat as “threefold — the nuclear threat, the ballistic threat and the proxy threat.”

According to the officials, intelligence assessments in recent months pointed to what they termed a “sharp acceleration” in Iran’s missile production programme, with dozens of ballistic missiles being produced each month. They claimed Iran is moving towards producing thousands of missiles in the coming years, significantly expanding its arsenal.

The officials also alleged that Iran spent between USD 700 million and USD 900 million over the past year supporting regional proxies, with much of the funding directed to Hezbollah.

Lessons from October 7

Referring to the October 7 attacks in Israel, an official said the key lesson was to address existential threats proactively.

“Our main lesson for October 7 is to deal with existential threats in a proactive and preemptive manner. The cost of inaction is too heavy. Timing was crucial, because waiting would have meant allowing a threat to mature further, quantitatively and qualitatively,” the official said.

Following the strikes, US President Donald Trump said American forces had begun “major combat operations in Iran.”

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Trump said, adding that the activities of the regime endanger US troops, bases and allies.

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Explosions were reported in Tehran early Saturday, marking a sharp escalation in tensions across the region.