Israel hails success in blocking Iran’s drone and missile strikes as Tehran warns against retaliation
The latest:
- Iran warns of further attacks if Israel retaliates.
- Israel will exact price from Iran when time is right, minister says.
- Israel reports modest damage as most missiles and drones intercepted.
- G7 leaders expected to meet Sunday afternoon.
- Some airlines cancelling and rerouting flights in the region.
Top Iranian commanders warned Israel on Sunday that the country would face a bigger attack if it retaliates against overnight drone and missile strikes, adding that Washington has been told not to back any military action from its ally.
“Our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran,” armed forces chief of staff Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Bagheri told state TV, adding that Tehran warned Washington that any backing of Israeli retaliation would result in U.S. bases being targeted.
The commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, also warned Tehran would retaliate against any Israeli attack on its interests, officials or citizens.
Israel reported modest damage and reopened its airspace after Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli territory, while the United States said it would discuss a diplomatic response with major powers on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed his country would achieve victory after the military said it shot down almost all of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran in a sharp escalation of the Middle East conflict.
In all, Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles, according to Israel.
Retaliation attack
Tehran’s attacks late on Saturday, launched after a suspected Israeli airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 that killed officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, raised the threat of a wider regional conflict.
Israel did not claim responsibility for the airstrike that killed Brig.Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force, and six other officers as they attended a meeting in the Damascus embassy compound.
But Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel “must be punished and shall be” for an operation he said was equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil.
Up to this point, Iran had relied on its proxies across the region to attack Israeli and U.S. targets in a show of support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza war with Israel, which shows no sign of easing despite numerous mediation efforts.
“We intercepted, we repelled, together we shall win,” Netanyahu posted on X.
The Israeli military said it was discussing followup options after its armed forces shot down more than 99 per cent of the Iranian drones and missiles.
The war in Gaza has ratcheted up tensions in the region, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
Israel has been at war with Hamas for the past six months, a conflict that ignited in the wake of a surprise attack by militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, on Oct. 7. Some 1,200 people died in Israel and roughly 250 people were taken hostage in the assault, according to Israeli officials.
The war has since left more than 33,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, according to the Heath Ministry in Gaza. There have been ongoing fears that the conflict could spread beyond the borders of Gaza.
Risk of escalation
Iran’s most powerful ally in the region, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — which has been exchanging fire with Israel since the Gaza war began — said early on Sunday it had fired rockets at an Israeli base.
Drones were also reportedly launched against Israel by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has attacked shipping lanes in and around the Red Sea to show solidarity with Hamas, British maritime security company Ambrey said in a statement.
Regional power Egypt urged “utmost restraint” to avoid further escalation.
On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said his country has informed the U.S. that its attacks against Israel will be “limited” and for self-defence.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed retaliation for an Israeli attack on an embassy compound in Damascus that killed several senior Iranian military leaders.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said nearly all of the drones and missiles were intercepted. “That is a success,” he said.
The Iranian salvo caused light damage to one Israeli military facility, he said.
Biden calls for G7 meeting
Iran said its strike was punishment for “Israeli crimes.”
“Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” the Iranian mission to the United Nations said, warning the U.S. to “stay away.” However, it also said Iran now “deemed the matter concluded.”
Israel will exact a price from Iran in response to the attack when the time is right, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said on Sunday.
“We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us,” Gantz said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who spoke by phone with Netanyahu, said he would convene a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven major economies on Sunday to co-ordinate a diplomatic response to what he called Iran’s brazen attack.
U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said America did not seek conflict with Iran but would not hesitate to act to protect U.S. forces and support defence of Israel.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States “condemns Iran’s attack on Israel in the strongest terms.”
“While we do not seek escalation, we will continue to support Israel’s defence, and as the president made clear, we will defend U.S. personnel,” he said.
The UN Security Council was set to meet at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday after Israel requested it condemn Iran’s attack and designate the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said the scope of the attack, the first direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory, is a wake-up call for the international community.
“The first initial step would be to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization,” Moed told CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
Air travel impacted
Major airlines across the Middle East — including Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways — announced the cancellation of some of their flights after the overnight salvo, while having to reroute others.
However, the Dubai-based Emirates airline later said it was resuming scheduled operations to and from Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq from Sunday afternoon.
Israel and Lebanon said they were closing their airspace on Saturday night. Israel reopened its airspace on Sunday, its airports authority said. Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, had readied air defences to intercept any drone or missile that violated its territory, two regional security sources said.
Residents in several Jordanian cities said they heard heavy aerial activity.
‘We stand with Israel,’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said after Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel.
Canada, the European Union, Britain, Japan, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Mexico, the Netherlands and Norway are among the countries that have condemned Iran’s attack.
Many of those countries have also warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
