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U.S. President Joe Biden plans to gather G7 leaders together on Sunday.
The latest:
- Iran warns of further attacks if Israel retaliates.
- Netanyahu vows to achieve victory.
- Israel reports modest damage.
- 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.
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.
Explosions, sirens above Jerusalem as Iran launches air attack
Footage from CNN shows explosions in the sky above Jerusalem as sirens blare after Iran launched an aerial attack on Israel.
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.
Israel’s Channel 12 TV cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying there would be a “significant response” to the attack.
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 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.
Push toward escalation
Iran’s most powerful ally in the region, the Lebanese Shia 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.
Those clashes now threaten to morph into a direct open conflict pitting Iran and its regional allies against Israel and its main supporter, the United States. Regional power Egypt urged “utmost restraint.”
Iran’s supreme leader vows retaliation for deaths of military leaders
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, called Iran’s actions “very grave,” telling a televised briefing they “push the region toward escalation.”
Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at Israel, including more than 10 cruise missiles, and most were intercepted outside Israeli borders, Hagari said.
The Iranian salvo caused light damage to one Israeli military facility, he said.
The Israeli military said it was not advising residents to prepare to take shelter, revising an earlier alert in an apparent signal of the end of the threat.
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.”
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.
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 Guards a terrorist organization.
Iran’s Fars news agency quoted a source as saying Tehran was closely watching Jordan, which might become the next target in case of any moves in support of Israel.
Air travel impacted
Major airlines across the Middle East — including Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways — announced the cancellation of some of their flights, while having to reroute others.
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.
Syria, an ally of Iran, said it was putting its ground-to-air defence systems around the capital and major bases on high alert, army sources there said.
Canada ‘unequivocally condemns’ Iran’s attack on Israel, Trudeau says
‘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.
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Credit belongs to : www.cbc.ca
