Israel demystifies Iran with dare attacks on military targets
- Airlines divert all flights through Iran
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Israel early today confirmed fears that keep Iranians awake with strong targeted strikes on highly guarded military facilities, proving that the Islamic Republic which has been supporting terrorist attacks on the Zionist nation is not invulnerable.
Israeli air strikes defied Iranian air defenses and met targets in Tehran. The strikes also hit targets in Isfahan, home to a military base, a missile production and several nuclear sites. There were also strikes in Mashhad where an Iranian airfield is located.
Following the attacks which targeted strategic facilities, Iran has banned its citizens from sharing images of the impacts of the attack. It has consequently imposed 10 year imprisonment on anyone in Iran caught sharing images relating to the Israeli strike.
Midflight operations Saturday morning diverted from Iran’s airspace as Israeli bombs rained, and the belligerent government in Tehran has also shut the country’s airspace after it was reported that explosions were heard near or at an airport.
The IDF said its fully mobilized forces carried the attacks in response to October 1 wave of 1900 Iranian missiles and drones launched by Iran in support of Hezbollah terrorists which are under attack by Israel in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sits with militaty chiefs in a bunker war room as IDF strikes Iran
While Israel has been at reprisal wars in Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in response to October 2023 invasion of the country by Hamas Islamists, Iran has been stoking more trouble in the region by providing open support for the terrorist groups and undermining host countries like Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
On the other hand, the United States has been supporting Israel with military defenses as the tiny nation comes under coordinated attacks from its aggressive neighbors.
The multifaceted wars raging in the Middle East was sparked off when Hamas terrorists invaded Southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and murdered over 1200 Israelis and took nearly 300 Israelis who were dragged out from their homes after witnessing murder of their relations into hostage in Gaza.
Israel has since responded with rage, invading Gaza in search of the hostages, killing thousands and displacing tens of thousand Gazans as it searched for its citizens seized by Hamas. Israel has also pursued masterminds of the October 7 attacks and leaders of Hamas, leading to devastating attacks as the fugitive Hamas leaders hide in dense civilian populations. The Human shield tactics of Hamas contributed to high civilian casualty figures in the Gaza war.
While the Gaza war raged, Hezbollah kept attacking Israel with Iran supplied rockets from the northern front and forced thousands of Israeli families to be displaced. The attacks by Hezbollah led Israel to respond forcefully with ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.
In aid of its crumbling militant proxies in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran showed up with massive wave of missile and drone attacks that tried to overwhelm Israeli Iron Dome air defense systems in an attempt that risked direct war with Israel.
Israel which is already driving two fronts of war in Lebanon and Gaza promised a strong response to the direct Iranian attacks, prompting a hurried diplomatic campaign by Tehran to woo its Arab neighbors to assist block Israeli military jets across their air spaces from reaching Iran.
Israel had told the US ally that response to the Iranian missile campaign was definite and would be delivered, prompting more threats of further attacks from Tehran. As the ancient foes bragged and menaced each other, the United States upgraded the air defense systems of Tel Aviv.
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized,” the spokesman for the IDF, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, declared after striking Iran Saturday morning. But the United States said it was not involved in the attacks.
Rear Admiral Hagari said: “In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel, the Israel Defence is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran.”
“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and their duty to respond. We will do whatever is necessary to defend the state of Israel and the people of Israel,” he explained.
The United States and Russia had advised Israel to spare Iran’s nuclear weapon facilities to avert catastrophic outcome in the region. They also cautioned against high civilian casualties as the region has seen devastating consequences of senseless aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.
The US had been pressing Israel to avoid attacking Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities amid fears such bombardments would trigger an escalation from Tehran. the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was in Israel earlier this week to urge restraint from Mr Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
Iran’s national air defence headquarters confirmed that Israeli forces struck military facilities across three provinces while claiming their air defences largely repelled the attack in an early sign the regime may be prepared to de-escalate.
Iran’s Fars news agency, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that several military bases near Tehran had been targeted.
Other Iranian media sites reported that the explosions were near or at Imam Khomeini International Airport.
US officials described the retaliatory attacks as “targeted military strikes against military targets in Iran;” observers confirmed that the strikes had likely hit between two or three targets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran.
Analysts suggest that Iran and Israel are putting their war capabilities on scale, warning that the game could quickly get out of hand. And fears remain high within the West that the Middle East could escalate
Israeli officials released images of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant and military officials sitting around a table at the IDF’s underground headquarters as the attacks unfolded.
The image was heavily redacted to blur out the items the table.
The White House was notified of Israel’s plans hours before the attacks started, US officials said, suggesting defence officials may believe the attack will not trigger another major escalation.
Washington has previously complained about being kept in the dark about planned Israeli attacks on its enemies.
Spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, Sean Savett, stated: “We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
