A sigh of relief as Khamenei stops short of retaliation call

Satellite images show impact of Israeli attack on 2 secret Iranian military bases

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Israel's airstrikes "hit hard" Iran's defences and missile production, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the damage from Saturday's attack should not be exaggerated.

With warfare raging in Gaza and Lebanon, direct confrontation between Israel and Iran risks spiralling into a regional conflagration. But a day after the airstrikes, there was no sign they would spark another round of escalation.

"The air force attacked throughout Iran. We hit hard Iran's defence capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed at us," Netanyahu said in a speech, calling the attack "precise and powerful" and saying it met all its objectives.

The Islamic Republic has not signalled how it will respond to Saturday's long-anticipated strikes, which involved scores of fighter jets bombing targets near the capital Tehran and in the western provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan.