By james art Images analyzed by The Associated Press show some of the damaged buildings are at the Parchin military base, where the International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran has in the past conducted tests of high explosives that could trigger a nuclear weapon.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA, Western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an active weapons program until 2003.
Other damage can be seen at the nearby Khojir military base, which analysts say hides an underground tunnel system and missile production facilities.
Iran’s military has not acknowledged damage in either Hojir or Parchin from Israel’s attack early Saturday, although it said the attack killed four Iranian soldiers working on the country’s air defense systems.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the strikes had “severely damaged” Iran and had achieved all of Israel’s objectives.
“The air force struck all over Iran,” he said. “We have seriously damaged Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed at us.”
Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s attack “should not be exaggerated or downplayed,” while not calling for retaliation.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks on Sunday are the latest to show that Iran is carefully weighing its response to the attack.
“It is up to the authorities to determine how to hand over the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime and take actions that serve the interests of this nation and country,” said Khamenei, who has the final say on all major decisions in Iran.
Cascading conflicts in the Middle East have raised fears of an all-out regional war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran and its militant backers, which also include the Houthi rebels in Yemen and armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
Iran’s president earlier warned against further attacks on his country after Israel targeted military sites in pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday.
In a statement on social media site X, Massoud Pezeshkian expressed his condolences to the families of the four people killed in the attacks and said Iran would continue to defend itself.
“Iran’s enemies should know that these brave people stand fearlessly in defense of their land and will respond to any folly with tact and intelligence,” he wrote.
Israel’s military said its aircraft targeted sites used by Iran to make the missiles fired at Israel, as well as sites for surface-to-air missiles.
There was no indication that oil or nuclear sites were hit, and Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage.”
US President Joe Biden told reporters that Israel had briefed him before the strikes and said it appeared that “they hit nothing but military targets”.
His administration received assurances from Israel in mid-October that it would not strike nuclear facilities and oil installations. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s nuclear facilities were not affected.
“I hope this is the end of it,” Mr. Biden said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, that “Iran must not make the mistake of striking back at Israel, which should mark the end of this exchange,” according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a press secretary of the Pentagon.