Report: Israel sent message to Iran ahead of strike via third parties with details, warning not to retaliate

Israel warned Iran ahead of its retaliatory airstrikes earlier this morning not to hit back, in an attempt to prevent back-and-forth attacks from spiraling into a wider conflict, according to sources quoted by the Axios news site.

Three sources quoted in the report say the Israeli message was passed to Iran via several third parties, including the Dutch foreign minister.

“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 is quoted as saying in the report.

The IDF said a short while after the strikes that among the military sites targeted were air defense batteries and ballistic missile manufacturing sites — those used in direct Iran’s latest attack on Israel on October 1 and an earlier attack on April 14.

Israel also warned Iran that if it does retaliate, further strikes will be more powerful, according to two other sources quoted by Axios.

Announcing the completion of the strikes a few hours ago, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warned that if Iran were to “make the mistake” of escalating further, Israel would respond.