WASHINGTON — The Israeli military announced early Saturday that it had completed a series of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran in response to Iranian missile attacks, a move that continues to push the Middle East into a more dangerous multi-front war a year after the Hamas attack. has pushed the country to the stage of conflict. October 7th Attack on the Jewish State.
“The Iranian regime and its proxies in the region have relentlessly attacked Israel on seven fronts since October 7, including direct attacks from mainland Iran,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Like any other sovereign state in the world, the State of Israel has corresponding rights and obligations.”
Based on intelligence, Israeli aircraft attacked a missile manufacturing facility used to manufacture missiles that Iran has launched toward Israel over the past year, posing a “direct and imminent threat to the Israeli people.” the military announced.
The Israel Defense Forces also attacked surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian air capabilities aimed at restricting Israel’s freedom of air activity in Iran.
The military said “the mission was accomplished.”
In Washington, a senior administration official said the United States had been informed of the Israeli attack in advance but did not take part in the military operation.
“Our goal is to accelerate diplomacy and reduce tensions in the region,” said National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet. “We call on Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle can end without further escalation.”
He said he referred other questions to the Israeli government.
The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed on Israel’s military operations by his national security team and is monitoring the latest developments. Vice President Kamala Harris was also briefed and monitored the attack, the White House said.
Fierce explosions heard around Tehran
A senior U.S. government official said the Israeli strikes were large-scale, targeted and precise, aimed at military targets across Iran.
Iranian state television reported that several strong explosions were heard around the capital, Tehran. Iranian semi-state media said explosions were also heard in the nearby city of Karaj.
Israeli airstrikes also targeted some military positions in central and southern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
Syria’s air defense forces intercepted missiles launched by Israel from “the direction of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese territory” and shot down some of them, SANA added.
Early Saturday, SANA reported an explosion near the Syrian capital Damascus.
Tensions rise between Israel and Iran
The Israeli operation came after Iran fired around 180 missiles at Israel on October 1, which Tehran said was in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah and a senior member of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. I explained that. Most of the Iranian missiles were intercepted with US military assistance. A Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank.
All-out war between archenemies Israel and Iran has been threatened for decades.
But after Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel last year, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251, the region’s two biggest powers have been caught in an escalating spiral. Israel responded by launching a war in the Gaza Strip, which killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left it devastated. It has sparked an increase in military action against Israel by groups that Iran trains, funds, and supplies weapons to advance its interests.
These groups, also known as Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and various Iraq-based militias. Among its common interests with Iran is opposition to the state of Israel and a desire to expel Western powers, primarily the U.S. military, from the Middle East.
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In April, Iran barraged Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones. Israel, along with the United States and its Western allies, shot down nearly all of them. Over the summer, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by a bomb hidden in the walls of a government guesthouse in Tehran. Israel is believed to be involved in the assassination.
Yahya Sinwar, the elusive leader of Hamas who is considered the mastermind behind last year’s brutal attacks on Israel, was killed last week during an Israeli military operation in Gaza. His body was discovered among the rubble of the building. DNA testing confirmed his identity.
Israel has launched a “limited” ground operation inside Lebanon in recent days to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure. Israel’s new attack on Iran means it is effectively fighting a war on multiple fronts against a web of non-state and state actors spanning four countries: Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.
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In Washington, senior administration officials said Israel had indicated that retaliatory strikes against Iran should signal an end to direct fire between the two countries. The official said the United States has multiple direct and indirect communication channels with Iran, where it makes its position clear.
The United States was not involved in the attack but stands ready to defend Israel if Iran chooses to strike back, officials said.
Biden has spent the past few weeks encouraging Israel to respond with a targeted and proportionate response while keeping the risk of harm to civilians low, and that appears to have happened, officials said. said the person.
Biden has ordered the U.S. military to help defend Israel, a move some national security experts believe risks drawing the U.S. into a Middle East war.
Rosemary Kelanic, Middle East director at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank that advocates for a reduction in the area of U.S. military presence around the world, said the recent sending of more U.S. forces to the region is “Israel’s brinkmanship policy.” “This only increases the risk of war with Iran.” It is not in the interest of the United States.”
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“If the policy failures of the past 20 years have taught us nothing, conflict in the Middle East is quicksand. The more America fights, the more we get dragged into it,” Keranik said.
Two weeks ago, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil industry in response to Tehran’s attacks on Israel. The Treasury Department said the sanctions targeted a “shadow fleet” of tankers and illegal operators that help transport the Iranian regime’s oil exports in violation of existing sanctions.
The punitive action designates 10 entities in multiple jurisdictions and 17 vessels as “blocked property” under federal law that allows the federal government to freeze the assets and property of companies in the United States. .
The State Department also announced sanctions on six companies and six ships involved in Iranian oil trading.
Contributor: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy for Reuters; and USA TODAY
