Israel did not brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi about its pre-emptive strikes on Tehran even though he had just concluded a two-day state visit to the country days before the operation, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Friday.Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, Saar said the decision to launch the operation was taken only hours before the strikes, making it impossible to inform the Indian side in advance.“We have great relations with Prime Minister Modi and with India and we have deepened our ties,” Saar said during an interaction at the conference.“But we could not brief Prime Minister Modi on this because the decision was taken only on Saturday early morning,” he said, adding that the move followed the collapse of negotiations between the United States and Iran earlier that week.Modi had completed a state visit to Israel shortly before the strikes were launched on Tehran as part of the widening conflict involving Iran and the US-Israel alliance.Saar said Israel’s military campaign was aimed at removing what he described as “existential threats” posed by Iran. “We are determined to achieve the goals of this operation,” he said, accusing Tehran of continuing its nuclear programme, developing long-range ballistic missiles and backing regional armed groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.He also indicated that Israel believed the conflict could eventually lead to political change in Iran. “Probably we will have to see a change in the regime in Iran,” Saar said, adding that such a development would ultimately have to come from the Iranian people.The Israeli minister also warned that the conflict was expanding beyond Iran, pointing to missile and drone attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon. “Hezbollah decided to join this war against the will and the interest of the people of Lebanon because they are serving Iranian interests,” he said, adding that Israel would respond by targeting Hezbollah positions.At the same time, Saar sought to reassure Indian nationals concerned about travel disruptions amid the conflict. He said Israel would gradually reopen its airspace to allow flights to resume safely. “We will gradually open our sky immediately, but it will happen in stages because the most important thing is to do that safely,” he said.The remarks come amid escalating tensions in West Asia following the latest round of hostilities between Iran and the US-Israel alliance, which has raised concerns about a wider regional war and the safety of thousands of foreign nationals in the region, including Indians.