Iran launches retaliatory strike at Israeli territory, both nations say
Iran launched a broad aerial attack from its territory toward Israel on Saturday, in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in early April on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, the Israeli and Iranian militaries said.
The attack, while expected, threatened to open a volatile new chapter in the long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel, marking a significant escalation in hostilities between the two regional foes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement broadcast on state television that it had launched “dozens of drones and missiles” toward Israel “in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes.”
Israeli intelligence confirmed that dozens of drones and cruise missiles had been sent aloft and were heading toward
Israel from Iran and Iraq,
according to two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
discuss military intelligence. They were expected to hit targets in the
Golan Heights and an Israeli air force base in the Negev Desert, the officials said.
Iran’s action Saturday came after a week of diplomacy and conflicting reports about how far Tehran would go in response to the Damascus attack, and whether it would risk starting an outright war with Israel.
The White House vowed to help Israel defend itself. President Joe Biden cut short a weekend at his vacation home in Delaware to return to the White House and huddle with his national security team.
“This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council. “President Biden has been clear: Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”
Senior Iranian officials and military commanders had pledged to retaliate since the Israeli airstrike in Damascus on April 1. Seven Iranian officers, including three top commanders, were killed in the strike, inciting Iranian vows to avenge the deaths.
The statement from the Iranian military made it clear that the aerial assault was in response to “the attack on the consulate section of Iran’s Embassy in Damascus and martyring our commanders and military advisers in Syria.”
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Analysts said that the goal of any Iranian response would be to try to deter Israel from more assassinations. But any of Iran’s potential options for retaliating carried big risks.
Current and former U.S. officials said it is likely that Iran will try to synchronize the drone attack with faster moving missiles, which would be launched later. The slow moving drones, the former official said, could be used to distract Israeli defenses.
The Israeli military said Saturday that all schools would be closed across the country and gatherings of more than 1,000 people limited. The military said the restrictions would go into effect from 11 p.m. Saturday local time and last until 11 p.m. Monday.