Iran, Israel, US escalate threats after Tehran’s missile attack on Israel

Jerusalem/Beirut: Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, drawing vows of a sharp response from both Israel and the United States.

Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley on Wednesday (AEST). Israelis piled into bomb shelters and reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “a big mistake”.

Israel’s military later sounded the all-clear and said residents were free to leave their shelters.

Israel said more than 180 missiles were launched into Israel from Iran and Israeli air defences intercepted them. US Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed towards Israel, the Pentagon said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the assault was in retaliation for recent Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon and Gaza. Its forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90 per cent of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said. It warned the attack on Israel represented only a “first wave”, without elaborating.

A cleric clenches his fist as he celebrates Iran’s missile strike against Israel in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran.Credit: AP

A senior Iranian official told Reuters the order to launch missiles at Israel had been made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei remains in a secure location, the senior official added.

Iran exercised “self-defence” against Israel and its action had concluded unless the “Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said whilst telling Washington not to interfere.

“A warning was conveyed via Switzerland telling Americans that it was our right to self-defence and that we do not intend to continue [the attack].”

He said Iran’s action came after exercising tremendous restraint to give space for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Our action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful,” Araghchi added.

Earlier US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said Washington was “well-postured” to defend its “personnel, allies, and partners in the face of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organisations” in the Middle East.

This image taken from video shows projectiles being intercepted over Jerusalem, Israel.Credit: AP

US President Joe Biden expressed full US support for Israel and described Iran’s attack as “ineffective”. He said there was an active discussion about how Israel would respond.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Israel appeared to have defeated the attack without loss of life.

“This is a significant escalation by Iran, a significant event, and it is equally significant that we were able to step up with Israel and create a situation in which no one was killed in this attack in Israel,” Sullivan said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Credit: AP

“We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.”

Sullivan did not specify what those consequences might be, but he stopped short of urging restraint by Israel as the US did in April when Iran carried out a much smaller drone and missile attack on Israel.

US news website Axios, citing Israeli officials, reported the Netanyahu government would launch a “significant retaliation” within days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.

Projectiles fly through the sky in central Israel as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Iran towards Israel.Credit: AP

Netanyahu vowed retaliation: “Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.”

He said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson, just as its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and other places have learnt.

“Whoever attacks us, we attack them,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he strongly condemned Iran’s new attacks, adding that in a sign of its commitment to Israel’s security France has mobilised its military resources in the Middle East. The statement from his office gave no details on what additional military assets had been sent to the region and the Defence Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

The European Union also condemned the attack, and the UN Security Council scheduled a meeting on the Middle East for Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

No injuries were reported in Israel. But the Palestinian civil defence authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank said a man was killed near Jericho and falling rocket debris had caused damage and started fires in the area.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its operation was defensive and was only directed at Israeli military and security facilities. Earlier, Iran’s state news agency said Tehran targeted three Israeli military bases. Iran urged UN Security Council action.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called “escalation after escalation”, saying: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire”.

Israel in a post on X, formerly Twitter, criticised Guterres for not holding “Iran responsible for firing 181 ballistic missiles at 10 million Israeli civilians”.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an immediate regional ceasefire. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks ... spiralling out of control,” he posted on X.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK supported Israel’s right to self-defence, stating that “Iran has menaced the Middle East for far too long”.

Israelis take cover on the side of a road as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles.Credit: AP

Iran said if Israel retaliated, Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous”. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post: “This is just part of our capability. Do not get into a confrontation with Iran.”

On Wednesday, Israel renewed its bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, with at least a dozen airstrikes against what it said were the armed group’s facilities.

Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from parts of the suburbs. Israel issued new evacuation orders for the area, which has largely emptied after days of heavy strikes.

Hezbollah said it confronted Israeli forces infiltrating the Lebanese town of Adaisseh early on Wednesday and forced them to retreat.

Israeli strikes also killed at least 32 people in southern Gaza as the military launched ground operations in the hard-hit city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medical officials said on Wednesday. Reuters reported at least 60 people were killed in strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets across Gaza nearly a year after Hamas’ October 7 attack ignited the war, even as attention has shifted to Lebanon, where it is battling Hezbollah, and to Iran.

The European Hospital in Khan Younis said it received the bodies after heavy Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in the city. It said the dead include several women and children, and that dozens of people were wounded.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Meanwhile, Israel police said six people were killed in a shooting in Israel’s Tel Aviv. It was unclear if it was an incident related to Iran’s attack. Police said two suspects opened fire on a boulevard in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish neighbourhood in the city’s south. Twelve people were wounded in the shooting. Police called the attack an act of terrorism and said the two suspects were killed.

Oil prices shot up 5 per cent on fears of a wider war between the two arch-enemies.

The previous round of Iranian missiles fired at Israel in April – the first ever – were shot down with the help of the US military and other allies. Israel responded at the time with airstrikes in Iran, but wider escalation was averted.

Emergency services are seen near the site of a shooting by gunmen at a light rail station in Tel Aviv, Israel. Credit: Getty Images

The Pentagon said the scope of Iran’s airstrikes was about twice the size of April’s assault.

Nearly 1900 people have been killed and more than 9000 wounded in Lebanon in nearly a year of cross-border fighting, most in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics on Tuesday.

Israeli soldiers raise their fists from a moving APC in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border on Tuesday.Credit: AP

Reuters, with AP

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