A Night of Escalation: Everything You Need to Know about Iran’s Attack on Israel
The Middle East was on the brink of a regional war on Saturday night, when Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against Israel.
After a suspected Israeli strike on Iranian consular building in Syria on April 1, which killed seven Iranian officers including two senior commanders, Tehran vowed revenge, putting Israel and the US on high alert.
On Saturday morning, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized an Israeli-linked container ship, the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Later on Saturday, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in an immense aerial attack. After reports of the attack, Israel closed its airspace, and so did Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. By Sunday morning, Israel and Jordan reopened their airspace.
In a statement, IRGC said that its “Aerospace Force fired dozens of missiles at specific Israeli targets inside the occupied territories,” referring to Israel.
It added that the strikes were in response to “numerous crimes” committed by Israel, including an attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
The US President Joe Biden condemned the attack, launched by Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. In a statement, he said that the US “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”
In a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.” On Sunday, Biden will convene “G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” the statement added.
In a separate statement, the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said “US forces in the Middle East on April 13 intercepted dozens of missiles and UAVs en route to Israel, launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.”
The UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it has moved “several additional Royal Air Force jets and air refueling tankers to the region,” adding that these jets had been deployed in Iraq and Syria to intercept “any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions”.
The Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement on Sunday, following Iran’s attack, that “99% of the threats that were launched were intercepted.”
He revealed that Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. He said that a number of ballistic missiles exploded in the area of the Nevatim Air Force base in southern Israel, but “the missiles caused minor damage only.”
He added that a ten-year-old girl was severely injured by shrapnel, but there are no more casualties reported.
Meanwhile, Iranian top military commanders deemed the attack on Israel “a success”. Major General Hossein Salami said on Sunday that the IRGC had received reports showing that part of the weapons fired toward Israel “had directly hit their targets,” reported IRNA.
“Our information on all of the hits is not complete yet but on that part of the hits that we have accurate, documented and field-related reports show that this operation has been carried out with a success that exceeded the expectation,” said Salami.
The Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said that the operation “was finished, the goals achieved.”
In a warning to Israel, Bagheri said, “Our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran.”
He also revealed that Tehran sent a warning to Washington via the Swiss embassy. He said, “If the U.S. were to back any Israeli retaliation for the overnight assault, it would lead to a targeting of U.S. bases in the region.”
Iran’s unprecedented attack against Israel has drawn international condemnations and raised concerns of a wider regional war.
The UN Security Council called for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel. According to Reuters, Israel requested the Council condemn Iran’s attack on Israel and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
