Iran fires missiles at Israel, warns against retaliation

Explosions reported in Jerusalem, Jordan River Valley hours after Israel launched ground operations in Lebanon; strikes were a response to campaign against Hezbollah leadership

Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River Valley after Israelis piled into bomb shelters. Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.

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Reuters journalists saw missiles intercepted in the airspace of neighbouring Jordan. Israeli military said Iran fired around 180 missiles. “IDF (Israeli Army) systems have identified approximately 180 missiles fired towards Israeli territory from Iran,” it said.

Earlier, the military had announced that any ballistic missile strike from Iran was expected to be widespread and told the public to shelter in safe rooms in the event of an attack.

Iran has vowed to retaliate following attacks that killed the top leadership of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. The firing of missiles came after Israel said its troops had launched ground raids into Lebanon, though it described the forays as limited.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to carry out “crushing attacks” against Israel if it retaliated for the missile attack.

“If the Zionist regime reacts to Iranian operations, it will face crushing attacks,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by the Fars news agency.

The IRGC said the attack was “in accordance with the United Nations Charter”.

It said it came “after a period of restraint” following an “attack on the sovereignty” of Iran — a reference to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.

After the attack, Iran suspended flights at Tehran international airport, Iranian media reported late Tuesday.

“For the time being, we have suspended incoming and outgoing flights at Tehran International Airport,” the ISNA news agency quoted airport chief Said Chalandari as saying.

Israel-Hezbollah war: Live updates

Hamas praised Iran’s missile attack as “heroic”.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands,” a statement said, adding it was “in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyr”.

In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian missile attacks. “We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,” Mr. Biden said on X about a meeting held with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.

Published - October 01, 2024 10:38 pm IST