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Post by Webster on Apr 15, 2024 0:35:31 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Israel set to reopen schools after Iran attackSchools are due to reopen across Israel on Monday, Israel’s military has announced, after they were ordered closed due to Iran’s attack over the weekend. After a “situational assessment”, the IDF said in a statement early Monday, “it was decided to restore educational activities across Israel”. “In the areas of the northern border (with Lebanon) and communities near the Gaza Strip, educational activities will resume … with restrictions,” the statement continued, adding that curbs on large gatherings would also be lifted in most places, reports Agence France-Presse. Biden speaks to King of Jordan in callThe US president, Joe Biden, has posted on X about his call with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Biden said the call included discussion of the war in Gaza: I spoke with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan today about the situation in the Middle East. We agreed to remain in touch over the coming days as we continue to monitor the situation. We also discussed our efforts to increase critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza.The King said any “escalatory measures” by Israel would lead to a broader conflict in the region, according to the Royal Court, Associated Press reports. The US president says he also spoke with some of the US forces involved in shooting down the Iranian drones.
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Post by Webster on Apr 15, 2024 0:37:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) In the US, House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week, in the wake of Iran’s attack. The attack has increased the pressure on Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to underscore the urgency of approving the funding, reports Associated Press. Johnson told Fox News that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would try this week to advance the aid. “The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”
Lufthansa says it has suspended until Monday its flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Amman in Jordan, as well as Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, a spokesperson said. The German airline is “constantly monitoring the situation in the Middle East”, a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. Flights to and from Beirut and Tehran will remain suspended until at least 18 April, after the company said Friday its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace. Lufthansa flights to the Iranian capital have been suspended since 6 April. Israel announced the reopening of its airspace on Sunday morning, along with its neighbours Jordan and Lebanon, and Iraq, which borders Iran. It was reported by Reuters earlier that United Airlines cancelled Sunday’s planned flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv, the airline said in a statement.
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Post by Webster on Apr 15, 2024 0:38:22 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Hezbollah praises Iran's attack on IsraelLebanese group Hezbollah has praised Iran’s attack on Israel, describing it as a “brave” decision. The Iran-backed group added in a statement on Sunday that Iran had exercised its legal rights despite “threats, intimidation and pressure”, according to the Reuters news agency. The comments came as Israel said on Sunday that it had struck a Hezbollah site in Lebanon’s east near the Syrian border, in the wake of Iran’s attacks on Israel, reports Agence France-Presse. A Hezbollah source also told AFP that “the Israeli strike targeted an area … near Baalbek and targeted a two-storey building belonging to Hezbollah”, adding there were no casualties.
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Post by Webster on Apr 15, 2024 23:03:32 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 3:24pm Summary--Israel will respond to Iran’s weekend missile and drone attack on its territory, the military chief of staff said on Monday. “This launch of so many missiles, cruise missiles, and drones into Israeli territory will be met with a response,” chief of staff Herzi Halevi said, speaking from the Nevatim air force base in southern Israel, which sustained some damage in the attack. --Iran does not want increased tensions but will respond immediately and more strongly than before if Israel retaliates, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his British counterpart on Monday, according to Iranian state media. British prime minister Rishi Sunak said he would soon speak with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on how to prevent escalation in the region after Iran’s drone and missile attack. --Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians on Monday in the occupied West Bank province of Nablus, Salah Bani Jaber, the mayor of Aqraba, told Reuters. --Israel has moved in a “significant way” but Hamas is the barrier to a deal that would see fighting in Gaza paused and hostages released, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Hamas rejected the latest proposed deal and has said any new hostage deal must bring about an end to the Gaza war and withdrawal of all Israeli forces, Reuters reports. --A UN report said that Israel has destroyed over 3,000 buildings within a 1km “buffer zone” that it is creating inside the Gaza Strip along the territory’s border with Israel. --France’s president Emmanuel Macron has said that France will do everything to avoid an escalation in the Middle East. He told the BFMTV news channel: “We will do everything to avoid a conflagration - that is to say an escalation. “We need to be by Israel’s side to ensure its protection to the maximum, but also to call for a limit to avoid an escalation.” --The Netherlands said it will reopen its embassy in Tehran on Tuesday after closing it for two days for safety reasons. It added in the statement that it does not exclude a new closure of its embassy. --The IDF has said that four of its soldiers were wounded overnight near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon. In a statement it said the injuries were caused by “an explosion of an unknown source” and that “The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment.”
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Post by Newsman on Apr 18, 2024 21:49:13 GMT -5
....reports are coming in of explosions in the central Iranian city of Isfahan...(The Guardian) It’s 5:49am in Tehran and past 5:19am in Tel Aviv – Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency says explosions have been heard in the airport of the central city of Isfahan – but the reasons are unknown. Commercial flights including Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting their routes early on Friday morning over western Iran without explanation. Local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed. The incident comes as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program. Over the weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 22:00:41 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Iran suspends flights over several citiesIran has suspended flights over several cities including the central city of Isfahan, where state media earlier reported explosions were heard near its airport. “Flights over Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran cities have been suspended,” state media reported, according to Reuters. A short time ago, Iran’s Fars news agency said explosions had been heard in central Isfahan airport – but the reasons were unknown. Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program. It is about 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran. Iran’s government offered no immediate comment. Associated Press also reported that Commercial flights had begun diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran, without explanation. Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran early Friday. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed. Tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Over the weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in a retaliatory strike after a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 22:04:12 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 22:06:08 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Iran has suspended flights over several cities including the central city of Isfahan, where state media earlier reported explosions were heard near its airport. Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military. It is about 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Air defence systems in the Iranian city of Isfahan were activated against “an object suspected to be a drone”, sources told the semi-official Fars news agency on Friday, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, US media is reporting that Israel has launched a strike against Iran in retaliation for its weekend attack. The Israeli military has not immediately responded to a request for comment, according to Associated Press. ABC and CBS News reported the strikes early Friday Mideast time, quoting US officials. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon. Iran activated its air defense system over several cities, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan. Israel had warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted. That strike came in the wake of an attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus widely blamed on Israel.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:19:57 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Nuclear sites unharmed - Iran state TVNuclear sites in Iran’s province of Isfahan remain unharmed, according to Iran’s state TV. Air defence systems were activated in the city of Isfahan against suspected drones on Friday, reports Reuters news agency. Iranian State TV also says that ‘at around 12:30am GMT three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan. The air defense system became active and destroyed these drones in the sky.”
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:21:01 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The explosions that have been reported so far appear to have been at a major Iranian base, the Shahid Salami airbase in the Iranian city of Isfahan. There are reports of explosions also occurring in southern Syria and Iraq, although details remain sketchy for now. According to Mehr news agency there are reports that flights to Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and all other airports in west Iran have been suspended. So far there has been no official comment from Israeli sources as the country approaches the period of the Passover holidays, however, sirens were heard in the south of the country.
Sirens were reported in northern Israel where exchanges between Israeli forces and Hezbollah have, however, been an almost daily occurrence over the past six months. Reuters now reports that the Israeli military said those warning sirens in the north were a false alarm. Responding to reports that Israel had carried out an operation against Iran early on Friday morning, an IDF spokesperson said that, at this stage, there is no change in the public safety directives adding if there are any changes in the future, the public would be informed. An hour after the first reports emerged from the US and Iran, usually well informed Israeli military correspondents had no confirmation as to whether Israel had carried out a strike on the city of Isfahan or in what way. However both Bloomberg and CNN, quoting US officials, suggested the Biden administration had been warned of an imminent attack.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:26:38 GMT -5
(The Guardian) US officials confirm Israel carried out operation against IranUS officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out military operations against Iran but did not describe those operations. They said Israel warned the Biden administration earlier on Thursday that the strike was coming in the next 24 to 48 hours. According to CNN, the Israelis assured their US counterparts that Iran’s nuclear facilities would not be targeted. Iranian state media has confirmed only that air defence opened fire on drones in Isfahan province, bringing them down. There were also Iranian reports of air defences working around Tabriz.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:27:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 11:51pm Summary--US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out military operations against Iran but did not describe those operations. --The Israeli military has told news agencies including Agence France-Presse and Associated Press: “We don’t have a comment at this time.” --Iran’s state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan Friday --Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan. --Iran’s Fars news agency reported “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the north-west of Isfahan province, while Iran’s space agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”. --Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources”. --Flights were suspended across swathes of Iran on Friday. “Iran’s air defence has been activated in the skies of several provinces of the country,” Tehran’s official IRNA news agency said. --Mehr news agency reported that “flights to Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and airports in the west, northwest and southwest have been suspended.” --Flight-tracking software showed commercial flights avoiding western Iran, including Isfahan, and skirting Tehran to the north and east. --There was no immediate comment from Dubai’s Emirates airline, which was operating several of the planes. --Blasts were also reported in southern Syria, according to a local activist group. “There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south, reports AFP. --Oil prices surged more than three per cent in early Asian trade on Friday after the reports of explosions.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:28:37 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The messaging coming out of Iran is not contributing to any great sense of clarity about what is going on. The current official line is that there was no missile strike but that air defence batteries in various places operated. This is in contrast to reporting coming out of the US from – so far unidentified officials to numerous news organisations – saying there has been an Israeli strike perhaps involving drones. Reuters is quoting an Iranian official saying there was no missile attack on Iran and the explosion heard near Isfahan was the activation of an air defence system, one of several such incidents across Iran which also closed major airports. However one Iranian government official and later Iran’s state-run television broadcaster suggested sites may have been targeted by drones. IRNA said the defenses fired across several provinces. It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, though people across the area reported hearing the sounds. In particular, IRNA said air defenses fired at a major airbase in Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged “loud noise” in the area. Irna is also saying this about air defences firing near Tabriz: Following the sound of an explosion in the west of Tabriz, northwestern #Iran and near an area called Vadi-e- Rahmat, according to IRNA reporter, it was found that Tabriz Air Defense fired upon observing a suspicious object. No explosion happened in Tabriz, and the city is in a peaceful situation.
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Post by Webster on Apr 18, 2024 23:29:09 GMT -5
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