(Jerusalem) Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles against Israel on Saturday in response to a strike against its consulate in Damascus on 1er april. This is the first direct attack ever carried out by the Islamic Republic against Israeli territory.
At the same time, Iran’s allies, Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthi rebels have carried out anti-Israeli attacks, the former firing rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan, and the latter launching drones towards of Israeli territory.
Affirming around 3:20 a.m. local time (8:20 p.m. Eastern time) on Sunday that the Iranian attack was still underway, the Israeli army assured that “the vast majority” of the missiles had been intercepted, and reported “ minor damage” on a military base. The official Iranian agency Irna, however, reported “serious damage in the most important air base in the Negev (south)”.
While Iran has asked Washington to “stay away” from the conflict, US forces in the region have shot down Iranian drones targeting Israel, a US official said.
Iran has fired more than 200 drones and missiles towards Israel, the Israeli army said.
Several detonations were heard in the sky in Jerusalem, where warning sirens sounded, according to AFP journalists. Sirens were also activated in the Negev region and the north of the country.
About an hour after the announcement of the launch of the Iranian operation, called “Honest Promise”, the official Irna agency in Tehran indicated that “a first wave of ballistic missiles” had been launched “deep inside the occupied territories [Israël, NDLR] “.
In total, “the Revolutionary Guards air force fired dozens of missiles and drones at specific targets” against Israel, according to state television citing the Guards, the ideological army of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran.
This attack is in response in particular to the strike on 1er April which destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus and cost the lives of two senior officers of the Guards, they said. Iran accused Israel of the strike, but the latter neither confirmed nor denied it.
PHOTO OFFICE OF THE ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) meets with his war cabinet in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose army is engaged in a war in Gaza, immediately gathered his staff and his close collaborators in a bunkered room, according to his services.
President Joe Biden once again assured the Israeli ally that “the commitment (of the United States) to the security of Israel in the face of threats from Iran and its relays (in the region) is unwavering “, during an emergency meeting with his national security team.
” Stay away ! »
“We are closely monitoring the killer drones sent by Iran and en route to Israel,” Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said in a televised address shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday (4 p.m. ET). ‘East).
“We are working in close collaboration with the United States and our partners to act against the launches and intercept them,” he said, denouncing this “direct attack launched from the Iranian soil.
Other “drone waves” targeting Israel are possible, an Israeli military official has warned.
Israel closed its airspace at 12:30 a.m. local on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday). Schools will be closed on Sunday, the first day of the week in Israel, and Monday, and “teaching activities, trips and outings” school and extracurricular will be suspended, the army announced.
“This is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, which the United States MUST STAY AWAY FROM!” “, declared the Iranian mission to the UN in a message posted on X.
“The case can be considered closed. However, if the Israeli regime makes another mistake, Iran’s response would be considerably more severe,” she warned.
“Devilish diet”
In the minutes following the start of the operation, the X account of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published a message stating: “the evil regime will be punished”.
ARCHIVE PHOTO SUPREME GUIDE OF IRAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian Supreme Leader
Jordan and Lebanon, Israel’s neighbors, have announced the closure of their airspace, as has Iraq, which borders Iran. Also neighboring Israel, Egypt announced the placing of its air defenses on maximum alert.
The British government said it was sending additional fighter jets to the Middle East and would intercept “any air attack […] if necessary “.
Paris condemned the Iranian attack and Berlin said it could plunge the region “into chaos”.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said he “strongly condemns the serious escalation” represented by Iran’s attack against Israel, and called for “an immediate cessation of these hostilities”.
War in Gaza
Earlier on Saturday, Revolutionary Guard maritime special forces seized a ship accused of being “linked” to Israel, with 25 crew members on board, in Gulf waters.
PHOTO ASSOCIATED PRESS
Revolutionary Guard maritime special forces seized a ship accused of being “linked” to Israel, with 25 crew members on board, in Gulf waters.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, which does not recognize the existence of Israel, is an ally of Hamas, author of an unprecedented bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7 which provoked a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza, where 33,686 people, mainly civilians, died according to the authorities of the Palestinian movement which took power in Gaza in 2007 and is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
The Israeli army continued its war in the Gaza Strip, which it has besieged since October 9 and where the majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants are threatened with famine according to the UN.
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an attack in southern Israel, resulting in the death of 1,170 people, the majority civilians, according to a report established by AFP based on official data. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain detained in Gaza, 34 of whom have died, according to Israeli officials.
With the Associated Press
Iran accused of attacks on Israeli targets for 30 years
Before the drone and missile attack launched on Saturday by Iran against Israel, Tehran has been accused for 30 years and on several occasions of having launched indirect attacks against Israel, outside its territory, while the two countries are engaged in a latent war for decades.
2021: attacks at sea
On February 25, 2021, the MV Helios Rayan Israeli boat transporting vehicles and which was traveling between the Saudi city of Dammam and Singapore, was hit by an explosion off the coast of the Sultanate of Oman, according to the company Dryad Global specializing in maritime security.
1er March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Iran of being behind the explosion. Tehran rejects these accusations and sends a warning to Israel.
On July 29, 2021, an attack in the Arabian Sea against an oil tanker managed by the company of an Israeli billionaire left two people, British and Romanian, dead. Israel, the United States, Britain and Romania have accused Tehran, which has denied any involvement.
2012: attack and attempts in several countries
In February 2012, a series of attacks targeted Israeli targets in Georgia, India and Thailand. Accused of having orchestrated these attacks using Hezbollah agents, Tehran rejects Israel’s accusations.
In March, Azerbaijan claimed to have foiled attacks planned by Tehran against the Israeli and US embassies in Baku, and to have arrested 22 people suspected of having been recruited and trained by Iran. The Iranian authorities deny this.
On July 2, Mr. Netanyahu denounced “Iranian terrorism without borders” after the arrest in Kenya of two Iranians accused of possession of explosives, arrested then released.
On July 14, he made the same accusations after the arrest in Cyprus of a young Lebanese man, suspected of having prepared an attack against Israeli interests.
On July 18, Israel accused Tehran of having ordered the attack against an Israeli tourist bus in Bulgaria which was carried out, according to Tel Aviv, by Hezbollah. The attack left seven people dead, including five Israelis. Iran rejects these accusations.
1992 and 1994 in Argentina
In 1992, an attack against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires left 29 dead and more than 200 injured, then in 1994, the worst attack in the history of Argentina was committed against the building of the Israeli-Mutual Association. Argentina (Amia), killing 85 people and injuring more than 300. These two attacks were sponsored by Iran, the Argentine courts ruled on Thursday, thirty years after the events.