IRAN PUTS REGION ON BRINK
JERUSALEM: Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles on Israel in an unprecedented attack, the Israeli army has announced, in a major escalation of the longrunning covert war between the regional foes.
Iran’s proxies and allies also carried out co-ordinated attacks on Israeli positions as sirens sounded in many places and AFP correspondents heard blasts in the skies above Jerusalem early Sunday, local time.
Iran had repeatedly threatened to strike Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on its Damascus consular annexe and Washington had warned repeatedly in recent days that the reprisals were imminent.
“Iran launched UAVs from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
“We are working in close cooperation with the United States and our partners in the region in order to act against the launches and intercept them.”
People in Jerusalem sought cover, as residents also stockpiled water.
“As you can see it’s empty, everybody is running home,” said Eliyahu Barakat, a 49year-old grocery shop owner in Jerusalem’s Mamilla neighbourhood.
US President Joe Biden vowed Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel after an urgent meeting with his top security officials on the spiralling crisis.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed a drone and missile attack was launched against Israel in retaliation for the Damascus strike which killed seven guards, two of them generals.
The Guards said its ballistic missiles were fired almost an hour after the slower moving drones.
Hundreds of Iranians gathered in Tehran’s Palestine Square waving Iranian and Palestinian flags to celebrate the unprecedented military action against Israel.
The Israeli army said Iran had launched a “massive swarm of over 200 killer drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles”.
“So far, we’ve intercepted the vast majority of incoming missiles,” Rear Admiral Hagari said. The army said it had scrambled dozens of fighter jets to intercept “all aerial threats”.
Iran’s allies in the region joined the attack with Yemen’s Huthi rebels also launching drones at Israel, according to security agency Ambrey, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement announcing rocket fire at Israeli positions in the annexed Golan Heights.
The official IRNA news agency said the attack had dealt “heavy blows” to an air base in the Negev desert, but the Israeli army said there had been only minor damage.
The White House said it expected the attack – which comes against the backdrop of the six-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza – to “unfold over a number of hours”.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations warned Washington to keep out of Iran’s conflict with Israel.
“It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US must stay away,” it said.
It added that it hoped its action to punish the strike on its diplomatic mission would lead to no further escalation and “the matter can be deemed concluded”.
But a Pentagon official said US forces were shooting down drones which had been aimed at Israel.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he had spoken with Biden.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s “reckless” action and pledged his government would “continue to stand up for Israel’s security”.
The defence ministry said it had moved several additional fighter jets to the region which stood ready to “intercept any airborne attack within range”.
France echoed the commitment to Israel’s security. “In deciding to take this unprecedented action, Iran has reached a new level of destabilisation,” Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said.
Egypt, which regularly acts as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, said it was in “direct contact with all sides to the conflict to try to contain the situation”.
The UN Security Council was to meet at 6am Monday AEST to discuss the crisis at Israel’s request, its current president Malta said.
Shortly before the launches, Netanyahu said Israel was prepared for a “direct attack from Iran”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had already seized an Israelilinked container vessel in the Gulf earlier on Saturday, putting the whole region on alert.
Israel said it was closing schools nationwide while Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon announced they were temporarily closing their airspace.