Iran launches missiles, drones at Israel in retaliation of airstrikes

Korea Herald

15 hours ago

Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel in separate barrages overnight Friday in response to airstrikes less than a day earlier that targeted nuclear sites and top commanders in the Islamic nation.
Warning sirens sounded across Israel as dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles were sent to Israel in Iran's military operation "True Promise 3" in the first onslaught.
Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles toward Israel on Friday night, the Israeli military claimed, according to CBS News. Then at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after dozens of missiles were launched, CNN reported.
Israel's missile defense system, known as the Iron Dome, appeared to have intercepted numerous ones. But CBS News Middle East reporter Courtney Kealy said several sites in Tel Aviv appeared to have been hit in the earlier strikes.
Video and photos showed a building in Tel Aviv on fire in the first wave.
Bright flashes also were seen over Jerusalem. The missiles went over the Gaza Strip before going into Israel.
The United States helped Israel intercept Iranian missiles, US officials and a White House official confirmed to CBS News. During Israel's airstrikes on Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US wasn't involved.
Forty people were being treated in Israeli hospitals after the recent strikes, with two in critical condition, the BBC reported.
Israel's strikes killed at least 78 people, including senior military officials, Iran's United Nations envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said during a UN Security Council meeting Friday. Also, more than 320 people were injured, most of them civilians, Iravani said.
"We will not forget that our people lost their lives as a result of the Israeli attacks with American weapons," Iravani said.
Early Saturday, a fire was burning at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, according to two Iranian news outlets.
Iranian state media said at least two Israeli fighter jets were shot down over Iran.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement their forces used a "combination of precision-guided and smart systems," that "targeted military centers and airbases that served as the source of the criminal aggression against our country.
"Despite claims of interception, the enemy failed to counter the waves of missile strikes launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran," the statement added. "This operation was executed in a powerful and offensive manner, in full coordination with all branches of Iran's Armed Forces and institutions. Its central message is that the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the red line of the Armed Forces." Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran would pay a "very heavy price" for its actions" but it "crossed red lines" by firing missiles at civilian population centers.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a national address Friday that the Iranian Armed Forces would respond fiercely to the strikes and leave Israel "helpless." Iran's President Mahsoud Pezeshkian said Friday on Iranian TV: "The Iranian nation and the country's officials will not remain silent in the face of this crime, and the legitimate and powerful response of the Islamic Republic of Iran will make the enemy regret its foolish act." Iran will target the regional bases of any country that tries to defend it, a senior Iranian official told CNN. The United States has bases in Qatar, where US Central Command is based, as well as Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
"Iran reserves the right -- under international law -- to respond decisively to this regime," the official said. "Any country that attempts to defend the regime against Iran's operations will, in turn, see its regional bases and positions become new targets." After the second wave, people in Israel were told they could leave their bomb shelters.
The IDF said its operation would continue for days. Fight jets traveled 1,000 miles, passing over Sryia and Iraq airspace, according to Roya News. Jordan and Saudi Arabia were avoided.
The Israeli cabinet met Friday to discuss responses to Iran's missile attack on Israel on Friday night, an Israeli official has told CNN. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are inside a bunker.
Netanyahu, in addressing the Iranian people in a video released Friday night, urged them to "stand up and let your voices be heard." He said Israel's fight is not against them but against the Iranian government.
"More is on the way. The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu spoke earlier Friday with US President Donald Trump, who had been seeking a nuclear deal with Iran on uranium enrichment.
Trump posted on Truth Social: "Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to 'make a deal.' They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn't get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!" In an earlier post, he wrote: "There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left." On Friday, Iran suspended a sixth round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman on Sunday.
Trump told CNN that the U.S. supports Israel and called the strikes on Iran "a very successful attack." In April 2024, Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel after a strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus. Israeli military intercepted the vast majority of the weapons.
Six months later, Iran launched more missiles and Israel retaliated with strikes on Iranian sites.
Israel's initial attack, first response Israel initially launched more than 200 airstrikes on Iran, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Friday. "Operation Rising Lion" targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, scientists and senior military commanders.
"Throughout the day, we once again demonstrated our ability to remove threats in a coordinated, precise and daring manner," Defrin said Friday night.
Israeli strikes on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility were extremely effective in a "full-spectrum blitz," a source told CNN.
Natanz, which is at the heart of Iran's nuclear ambitions, was engulfed in flames on Friday, according to social media images geolocated by CNN and Iranian state television coverage.
Israel said Friday morning its air defenses had successfully repelled an Iranian airborne assault in retaliation for overnight Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear development program.
Hours after the Israeli airstrikes, IDF said Iran had launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, prompting the Home Front Command to order the public to remain close to air-raid shelters, but the warnings were later scaled back after Air Force interceptor fighter jets and anti-missile systems downed or disabled the majority.
The IDF said it was unable to confirm the threat had been completely eliminated as more UAVs could have been launched since and en route toward Israel, but that sufficient numbers had been downed to allow the Home Front Command to temporarily ease the emergency measures.
Schools, government offices and most offices were shut for the weekend, but Israeli airspace was closed and all flights grounded until further notice, with flights already en route diverted. Jordan and Iraq also closed their airspace.
However, there were fears the missiles could follow and that the drones were just the beginning of a much more significant retaliation in line with Khamenei warning Israel "should anticipate a severe punishment" in response to its deadly strikes overnight.
The Iranian foreign ministry vowed Friday to hit back, saying the Israeli strikes on Iran were "a blatant act of aggression in violation of the UN Charter.
"In accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, Iran reserves the legitimate and legal right to respond to this aggression. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to defend Iran's sovereignty with full strength and in the manner they deem appropriate," the ministry said in a statement.
It also threatened the United States, alleging the attacks could not have taken place without its backing and that as Israel's "primary patron," the US government would "also bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist regime's reckless actions." International reaction European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed "deep alarm" and called for restraint, de-escalation and for military forces on all sides to stand down.
"A diplomatic resolution is now more urgent than ever, for the sake of the region's stability and global security,' she wrote on social media.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking in Stockholm, told reporters it was critical that Israel's allies stepped in to de-escalate the crisis.
"I think that is now the first order of the day," he said.
Three European leaders spoke Friday -- France's President Emmanual Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke.
"The leaders discussed the long-held grave concerns about Iran's nuclear program, and called on all sides to refrain from further escalation that could further destabilize the region," the statement released by the British Prime Minister's Office said. "The leaders reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defense, and agreed that a diplomatic resolution, rather than military action, was the way forward," it added.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told the UN nuclear watchdog's board, which is meeting in Vienna, that nuclear facilities must never be attacked under any circumstances due to the risk to people and the environment.
"Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security," Grossi warned, noting that the IAEA has repeatedly stated that military strikes on nuclear facilities could result in radioactive releases that would not be contained within international borders.
"I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation. I reiterate that any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond," he said. (UPI)