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Post by Webster on Apr 13, 2024 23:36:53 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Joe Biden has said that nearly all the drones and missiles launched from Iran were intercepted, adding that he will convene a meeting of G7 leaders on Sunday. Condemning the attack, the US president said in a statement from the White House that Iran was aided by its proxy forces in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. -- At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.Biden says that he reaffirmed America’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel in his call with Benjamin Netanyahu. -- I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.
The US military shot down dozens of Iranian missiles bound for Israel, as well as knocking down drones, three US officials told the Reuters news agency. Two of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some of the missiles were shot down by the US Navy. The New York Times is quoting two Israeli officials who say that, in total, Iran launched 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles and 110 surface-to-surface missiles. Most of the launches were from Iran, though a small portion came from Iraq and Yemen, the officials reportedly said.
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Post by Webster on Apr 13, 2024 23:45:34 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US senator Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate armed services committee, has condemned Iran’s attack against Israel. -- This widespread assault was reckless and provocative. I salute the Israelis, Americans, and regional partners who worked together to shoot down hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles throughout the night.Reed added that Iran must immediately cease its attack, while, urging Israel to act with prudence and wisdom.
Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil, shared a statement saying the government was following the “worrying events” in the Middle East. The statement did not condemn or mention Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel. “As a result of the genocide in Palestine and the irrationality of the Israeli regime as well as the inaction of the United Nations, the situation of instability in the region has worsened dramatically in recent weeks,” the statement said. “Peace will only be guaranteed once justice and international law are re-established, mainly with regard to the Palestinian people and state.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 13, 2024 23:47:26 GMT -5
(The Guardian)China’s foreign ministry has said it is deeply concerned about escalation, in remarks published on the ministry’s website on Sunday. “China calls on relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tensions,” the spokesperson said in response to a question about Iran’s strikes. This round of tensions is a “spillover from the Gaza conflict”, and quelling that conflict is “a top priority”, the spokesperson said.
US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin has said that US forces intercepted “dozens of missiles and UAVs en route to Israel.” In a statement, Austin said they were launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, adding US forces remained ready to provide support for Israel’s defence. -- I spoke to Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for a second time today to reiterate ironclad U.S. support for Israel’s defense in light of Iran’s unprecedented attack from Iranian territory. We reviewed the extraordinary defensive measures and strong cooperation undertaken to defeat this Iranian attack against Israel.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 0:12:02 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The attack by Iranian drones and missiles poses perhaps the most serious challenge to Israel’s air defence system that has ever been seen. An IDF spokesperson said most of the drones and missiles fired by Iran were intercepted outside Israel’s borders, while a limited number fell inside the country’s territory. “Air defense fighters using the “Arrow” system – together with strategic partner countries – successfully intercepted most of the launches before they crossed into the territory of the country,” Israeli army spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said in a statement earlier. The Arrow is a system developed with the US, and is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran said it launched on Saturday. The Arrow has also been used in the current conflict to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen, the Associate Press reported. Among its arsenal of defences, Israel can also rely on the Patriot, a US-made system which is the oldest weapon in Israel’s missile-defence system and which is used to shoot down aircraft, including drones. The Iron Dome is also available to shoot down short-range rockets. The system – developed by Israel with US backing – has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated in 2011. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90%.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 0:13:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) IDF confirms more than 300 drones and missiles launched at IsraelIran launched more than 300 “threats of various types” toward Israel, including ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee has said. “We have intercepted 99 percent of threats towards Israeli territory. This is a very important strategic achievement,” Adraee said. In a post on X, the IDF spokesperson gave a breakdown on the number of weapons used to target Israel: Out of about 170 drones launched by Iran – not a single one of them penetrated the State of Israel, as air force warplanes and our and our allies’ air defense systems intercepted dozens of them.
Of the more than 30 cruise missiles launched by Iran – none of the missiles penetrated Israeli territory. Our warplanes intercepted 25 missiles outside the country’s borders. Out of more than 120 ballistic missiles, a very small number penetrated the Israeli border, while the rest of the missiles were intercepted. This small number fell at an air force base in Nafatim and caused minor damage to infrastructure. Iran attack on Israel 'foiled' - IDF spokespersonAn IDF spokesperson has said that the attack by Iran has been “foiled”. “Iran has committed a dangerous act and is pushing the Middle East towards escalation. We do everything necessary to protect the security of the citizens of Israel,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee has said. Reuters is reporting that the Israeli military is discussing options for “follow-up operations”.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:50:35 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 7:19am Summary--Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel by more 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night. The air raids, the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Israeli state, brought a years-long shadow war into the open and threatened to draw the region into a broader conflagration as Israel said it was considering its response. --Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said that 99% of the launches had been intercepted, declaring that “the Iranian attack was foiled”. While 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles were shot down before they reached Israel, a few of the 110 ballistic missiles did get through, the Israeli army said, with 12 people suffering injuries. Among the injured was a young girl near the southern Israeli town of Arad who was in intensive care, according to the medical centre that received her. --Most of the Iranian drones flying over Syria’s airspace during Tehran’s strikes overnight were downed by Israeli and US jets before reaching their targets in Israel, two western intelligence sources told Reuters. The Jordanian air force also intercepted some of the projectiles over its territory, and the UK’s Royal Air Force said it was contributing fighters and refuelling planes, mostly to fill in for the US in conducting aerial patrols over Iraq and Syria as part of its campaign against the so-called Islamic State. --As of Sunday morning, Israeli officials indicated no decision had been made about a response to the Iranian attack, as an official said any potential response would be discussed at the war cabinet meeting. Israel’s war cabinet, comprising Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Benny Gantz, is due to meet at 3:30pm (1230 GMT) to discuss a response to the attack. --The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, at the request of Israel’s ambassador to the UN, the council’s president said in a statement to media. Jordan’s prime minister, Bisher Khasawneh, warned that any escalation in the region would lead to “dangerous paths”. Other countries including the UK, Spain, the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and China, have called for restraint amid fears of a regional escalation of conflict across the Middle East. Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the ambassadors of the UK, France, and Germany to question what it referred to as their “irresponsible stance” regarding Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel, the semi-official Iranian Labour news agency reported. --Several Iranian airports, including Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International, have cancelled flights until Monday, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. Domestic flights from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport and airports in Shiraz, Isfahan, Bushehr, Kerman, Ilam, and Sanandaj have also been cancelled until Monday morning, according to Iran’s Airports and Air Navigation Company. Israel, however, said it had reopened its airspace as of 7:30am local time on Sunday morning, with Beirut airport also reopening this morning. --A growing chorus of US congressional leaders are calling for the supplemental aid bill to be passed, with US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer saying it was the clearest way to help Israel. The $95bn supplemental spending bill includes $14bn for Israel, in addition to $60bn for Ukraine and support for Taiwan. It was passed by the Senate with 70% support in February but has been blocked in the House.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:51:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Pope Francis has made a “pressing appeal” against a “spiral of violence” after Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel, warning of a potential regional conflagration. “I make a pressing appeal for an end to any action which could fuel a spiral of violence that risks dragging the Middle East into an even greater conflict,” the pontiff said after his traditional Sunday prayer in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican. I am praying and following with concern, but also pain, the news that has come in recent hours about the worsening situation in Israel due to Iran’s intervention,” the pope told worshippers. “No one should threaten the existence of others. All countries must, however, side with peace and help Israelis and Palestinians to live in two states, side by side and in security,” he said. “That is their right,” Francis insisted as he once again repeated earlier calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and “negotiation.” The pontiff furthermore demanded the world “help the population facing a humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and urged the “immediate release of the hostages kidnapped months ago” by Hamas.
RAF jets shot down “a number of” attack drones after Iran launched its attack on Israel, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has confirmed. Sunak is set to join other G7 leaders on a call on Sunday amid fears of further escalation in the event of a possible Israeli counter-strike. Speaking to journalists in Downing Street, he said if Iran’s attack on Israel been successful “the fallout for regional stability would be hard to overstate”, as he confirmed RAF pilots shot down “a number of” drones. Sunak called Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel a “dangerous and unnecessary escalation”, which he says he condemns in the “strongest terms”. He concluded by urging “calm heads to prevail” and said he would be working with allies to “de-escalate the situation”.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:52:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Iran says it informed the US its attacks on Israel will be 'limited'Iran informed the US that its attacks against Israel will be “limited” and for self-defence, Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said in a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran on Sunday. Israel said Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles early on Sunday in an attack that set off air raid sirens across the country (see earlier post at 11:53 for more details). The assault was launched in response to a strike widely blamed on Israel on an Iranian consular building in Syria at the start of April which killed two Iranian generals. It marks the first time a direct military assault has been launched by Tehran on Israel despite enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran's attack on Israel has taken the Middle East to the 'edge of a precipice', Germany's foreign minister saysGermany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Iran’s overnight attack on Israel had taken the Middle East to the “edge of a precipice” and called for restraint. She said Tehran had “plunged an entire region into chaos” and the spiralling tensions needed to end, AP reports. Chancellor Olaf Scholz denounced a “grave escalation” and underlined Berlin’s “solidarity” with Israel. He told reporters during a visit to China that “we cannot but call on everyone, in particular Iran, to not continue along this path.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:54:16 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said its neighbours were notified of its retaliatory strikes on Israel 72 hours in advance. “About 72 hours prior to our operations, we informed our friends and neighbours in the region that Iran’s response against Israel was certain, legitimate and irrevocable,” Amirabdollahian said at a press conference.
Yemen’s armed Houthi movement said that Iran’s attack on Israel was “a legitimate act” in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on 1 April. A Houthi spokesperson added that the Yemeni group had been in “direct confrontation” with Israel since 7 October, by attacking the southern Israeli port of Eilat with missiles and drones, and by preventing Israeli ships from sailing through the Red Sea.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, has told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that he does not want further escalation of tension in the region after Iran’s drone and missile attack against Israel. Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, told Fidan that its “retaliatory operation” against Israel had ended, adding that Iran would not launch a new operation unless it was attacked, Turkish diplomatic sources said.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:56:35 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has condemned Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel, calling for efforts to prevent a further escalation in Middle East conflict. “Iran’s actions threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia’s actions threaten a larger conflict, and the obvious collaboration between the two regimes in spreading terror must face a resolute and united response from the world,” he wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He said the sound of drones – “a tool of terror” - is the same in the skies over the Middle East and Europe, and called for direct action, saying: “The world cannot wait for discussions to go on. Words do not stop drones and do not intercept missiles. Only tangible assistance does. We must strengthen security and resolutely counter all those who want to make terror a new normal.” Iran has supplied thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones to Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine. These have been used to exhaust Ukrainian air defences and hit infrastructure far from the front lines. Zelenskiy repeated his call for the US Congress to pass a stalled bill which would provide billions of dollars of military aid to Ukraine and Israel. “It is critical that the United States Congress make the necessary decisions to strengthen America’s allies at this critical time,” he said.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:57:36 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Agence France-Presse (AFP) has spoken to some Israelis in Jerusalem about how they feel after Iran’s overnight missile and drone attack. “The situation is really frightening because we are afraid of what happens and all of the bombing and aircraft that are coming,” said 48-year-old Ayala Salant, a resident of Jerusalem. “However, we are very, very happy with the alliance that helped us because most of the aircraft and missiles have not arrived to Israel. We hope that there will be a stop to this ongoing escalation soon.” Yishai Levi, 67, said that Israel “once again proved technological … superiority, and handled it in an impressive manner”. Sharin Avraham, 31, said “fighting against a state is a different war” and required a response from Israel. “Iran’s attack should not go quietly,” she told AFP. “We have to respond because Iran is a country. The state of Israel needs to show it that we are strong and this is not something that can simply pass. We are not the world’s punching bag.” Gil, a 30-year-old Jerusalem resident who only gave his first name, said there was “no great fear”. “It was nice to see that the west did stand by us and helped with interceptions,” he said. But in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, residents told AFP they were afraid. “We are not on an island. There are people around us that we fear for,” said Waheb Khalayla, 68, from the Galilee town of Majd al-Krum. We are afraid of a war breaking out, it will affect daily life and economic livelihood,” the retired nurse said.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 14:59:03 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The Dutch government has advised against all travel to Israel due to the uncertain security situation after the overnight missile and drone attack by Iran. “Iran and a number of allies carried out airstrikes against Israel with missiles and drones. It cannot be ruled out that further attacks may follow,” the foreign ministry said in an updated travel advisory.
A row has flared in Germany after the vice-president of the Bundestag or parliament, Aydan Özoğuz, posted a tweet in response to the Iranian rocket attack on Israel, in which she appeared to blame Israel. “Why must this situation be provoked further?” she wrote. “The bombing of the Iranian embassy has further endangered the Middle East.” She later erased her tweet due to “everyone attacking each other” in “such a heated situation”, she wrote in a new tweet. Reactions to the Social Democrat’s original tweet were swift, including from opposition CDU member Matthias Hauer, who wrote: “Shabby. Unworthy of a vice-president of the German Bundestag. That’s what Mrs Özoğuz comes up with when Iran attacks Israel, one of our closest allies?” Amid calls for her resignation, with references to the fact that her brothers are known Islamists, Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society and a Green party MP tweeted: “Israel was attacked by Hamas on 7.10. Israel is being attacked on an almost daily basis by Hizbollah. Israel was attacked last night by Iran. And you say Israel is the one that has done the provoking? Did your brothers hack your account?”
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 16:01:53 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Major Middle East airlines to resume flights after Iran's attack on IsraelMajor airlines across the Middle East announced they would resume operations in the region after cancelling or rerouting some flights as Iran launched its attack on Israel on Saturday evening. Emirates Airlines, which had cancelled some of its fights and rerouted others due to temporary airspace closures in the region, was resuming scheduled operations to and from Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq from Sunday afternoon, a spokesperson said. Qatar Airways also resumed services to Amman, Beirut and Baghdad, it said in a post on X, while Etihad Airways was planning to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut starting from Monday. Etihad warned that as services return to normal after the temporary closure of airspace across parts of the Middle East, “there may still be a risk of some knock-on disruption across Monday 15”. “Some of our flights have been affected by the temporary closure of a number of airspaces in the region,” a statement from the United Arab Emirates’ Fly Dubai was quoted on state news agency WAM as saying. Several Iranian airports, including Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International, have cancelled flights until Monday, Iranian state media reported on Sunday (see post at 11:05 for more details).
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 16:17:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Israel will exact price from Iran 'when time is right for us', war cabinet minister saysIsrael will exact a price from Iran in response to its mass missile and drone attack when the time is right, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has said. “We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us,” Gantz said in a statement as the Israeli war cabinet was due to convene to discuss Israel’s response to Iran’s attack. Israel’s war cabinet, made up of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Gantz, was due to meet at 3.30pm (12.30 GMT) to discuss a response to the attack. The Iranian government earlier hailed its unprecedented direct strike on Israel as a success and said that as far as it was concerned the military operation was now over, saying it had struck most of the military targets it had intended as a reprisal for the Israeli assault on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on 1 April. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said 99% of the more than 300 missiles and drones were intercepted from Iran’s attack on Saturday.
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Post by Webster on Apr 14, 2024 16:17:55 GMT -5
(The Guardian)Donald Trump responded to Iran’s Saturday attack on Israel by reposting a 2018 all-caps tweet in which he threatened the president of Iran and said the US would not stand for “DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH.” “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!” read the 2018 tweet. Trump posted a screenshot on his social media platform, Truth Social, of the Florida senator Rick Scott praising the message.
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