Editor-DN
Tehran:
One said early Wednesday that its missile attack on Israel had ended without further provocation, while Israel and the United States vowed to retaliate against Tehran’s escalating belligerence as fears of a wider war grew. have gone
Washington said it would work with longtime ally Israel to ensure Iran faced “severe consequences” for Tuesday’s attack.
The UN Security Council scheduled a meeting on the Middle East on Wednesday and the European Union called for an immediate ceasefire.
“Our action ends unless the Israeli government decides to invite further retaliation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on Ali al-Sobbh X on Wednesday. The reaction will be stronger and more powerful.”
Israel renewed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, early Wednesday, launching at least three strikes against what it said were targets belonging to the group.
Huge plumes of smoke were seen rising from parts of the suburbs. Israel issued new evacuation orders for the area, which has been largely emptied after days of intense attacks.
In its largest-ever military strike against Israel, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles on Tuesday, according to Israel. Sirens blared across the country and explosions rocked Jerusalem and the Jordan River Valley as the entire population was told to take refuge in bomb shelters.
No injuries were reported in Israel, but one person was killed in the occupied West Bank, officials there said.
Iran described the campaign as defensive and aimed only at targeting Israeli military installations. Iran’s official news agency says three Israeli military bases have been targeted.
Tehran said its attack was a response to Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Gaza by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel activated air defenses against Iranian bombardment and most of the missiles were intercepted by “a defense coalition led by Israel and the United States,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X: “Iran’s attack was a There is a serious and dangerous increase.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate. “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said at the start of an emergency meeting of the political-security cabinet late Tuesday, according to a statement.
The General Staff of Iran’s armed forces said in a statement carried by state media that any Israeli response to Tuesday’s missile attack would be met with “massive destruction” of Israeli infrastructure, including any Israeli ally’s territory. There is also promise to target assets that are involved.
Israel’s escalating attacks on Lebanon over the past two weeks, including the launch of a ground operation there on Monday, and its years-old conflict in the Gaza Strip, have raised fears that Iran and the United States are being drawn into a regional war. .
Iran’s forces used the hypersonic Fatah missile for the first time on Tuesday and 90 percent of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.
Israel’s Hagari said there were limited attacks on central and southern Israel. A video released by the military shows a school in the central city of Gudera being heavily damaged by an Iranian missile.
The Pentagon said US Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed toward Israel. Britain said its forces “played a role in efforts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East” without elaborating.
US President Joe Biden expressed full US support for Israel and described Iran’s attack as “ineffective”. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the US president, supported Biden’s position and said that the US will not hesitate to defend its interests against Iran.
“We will take action. Iran will soon feel the consequences of its actions. The response will be painful,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters.
America does not plead for restraint
The White House similarly promised “serious consequences” for Iran, and spokesman Jack Sullivan said in a Washington briefing that the United States “will work with Israel to make this case.”
Sullivan did not specify what the consequences might be, but he refrained from showing restraint on Israel’s part, as the United States did in April when Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel. The Pentagon said Tuesday’s airstrikes by Iran were nearly twice as many as in April.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called the “post-escalation of violence”: “It must stop. We desperately need a ceasefire.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an immediate regional ceasefire. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and reprisal threats… is spiraling out of control,” he posted on X.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to the leaders of Germany and France, and they agreed on the need for restraint on all sides, Downing Street said.
Nearly 1,900 people have been killed and more than 9,000 wounded in Lebanon during nearly a year of cross-border fighting, mostly in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government figures on Tuesday.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
