Israel retaliated. Iranian military targets in the capital Tehran and other cities were attacked with missiles this morning. The attack is a ‘reply’ to Iran’s airstrikes on October 1 when more than 200 rockets and ballistic missiles were fired at Israel in revenge for the killing of ally Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran says the morning attacks caused “limited damage”, but Israel claims it now has “wider freedom” to operate in Iranian skies. The attacks resulted in a complete closure of airspace in Iran, Syria and Iraq.
According to FlightRadar24, an open-source flight tracking website, no aircraft are flying over the three countries. However, Iran has now announced that it will resume flights following the attacks.
Syria said Israel launched airstrikes on the capital Damascus from the occupied Golan Heights and Lebanon, prompting it to activate air defense systems. Syria is part of the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, a group of Shia militias and political groups against Israel and the US in the region.
Iraq said it was maintaining the safety of civil aviation in its airspace and had decided to close the skies after the attacks. Restricting airspace after attacks is part of the standard operating procedures of states for security reasons to prevent infiltration of enemy aircraft into the area and to make it easier for air defense systems to identify friendly aircraft in the airspace.
For update: Israel says air strikes on Iran military targets completed
‘Will have to face proportionate response’
Tensions in the region have never subsided and now Iran says it is ready to respond with ‘aggressive action’.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing sources, reported that Iran was ready to respond to any Israeli “aggression”. “There is no doubt that Israel will face a proportionate response to any action,” Tasnim quoted sources as saying.
The Israeli military has warned Iran that it would “pay a heavy price” if it triggered a new round of tensions. Iran said the attack caused “limited damage”.
The United States confirmed that it was informed of the impending attack, although no American personnel or assets were involved in the operation. White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett called Israel’s actions “an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said, “We urge Iran to end its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of conflict can end without further escalation.”
