Iran says attack on Israel is over as fears grow of wider conflict By Reuters
By Steven Scheer, Parisa Hafezi and Timour Azhari
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT – Iran said on Wednesday its missile attack on Israel, the country’s largest ever military attack, was over, without further provocations, while Israel and the United States vowed to push back as fears of war rose.
Israel will launch “major retaliation” in days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic locations, the US news website Axios reported on Wednesday citing Israeli officials.
Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, fighting between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah continued on Wednesday.
Israel also bombed areas south of Beirut, a stronghold of the Iran-backed group, with at least a dozen airstrikes against what it said were targets of the group.
Heavy smoke was seen billowing from some parts of the city. Israel has issued new orders for people to leave the area, which has been empty after days of heavy strikes.
Hezbollah said it confronted Israeli soldiers who entered the town of Adaisseh in Lebanon early Wednesday and forced them to retreat.
Iran said Tuesday’s attack on Israel was aimed only at military facilities. Iran’s state news agency said three Israeli military bases were targeted.
Tehran said its attack was a response to Israel’s killing of warlords and violence in Lebanon against Hezbollah and Gaza.
“Our action is concluded unless the state of Israel decides to invite further retaliation. In that case, our response will be strong and forceful,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X morning Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to fight back. “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” he said at the start of an emergency meeting of the political security cabinet late Tuesday, according to a statement.
Washington said it would work with its longtime ally Israel to ensure Iran faces “serious consequences” for Tuesday’s attack, which Israel said involved more than 180 missiles.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant late Tuesday and said Washington is “well positioned” to protect its interests in the Middle East, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“The minister and I expressed our deep appreciation for Israel’s coordinated defense against nearly 200 ballistic missiles launched by Iran and pledged to stay close,” Austin said separately on the X website.
US Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed for Israel, the Pentagon said. Britain said its forces were involved in “efforts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East”, without elaborating.
The Pentagon said Tuesday’s airstrikes by Iran were nearly twice as many as Iran’s April attack on Israel.
‘THE ANSWER WILL BE PAIN’
Israel activated its air defenses against Iran’s bombing on Tuesday and several missiles were intercepted “by Israel and the defense coalition led by the United States,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X.
“The attack on Iran is a serious and dangerous escalation,” he added.
Iran’s military on Tuesday used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90% of their missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.
In a statement released to state media, the Iranian military’s general staff said any Israeli response would be met with “major destruction” of recent infrastructure.
It also said it would monitor the regional assets of any participating Israeli coalition.
Fears that Iran and the US could enter a regional war have increased with Israel’s escalation of attacks on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, while its conflict in the Gaza Strip is a year old.
US President Joe Biden expressed full US support for Israel and described the attack on Iran as “unsuccessful”.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been nominated for the position of president of the Democratic Alliance, supported the view of Biden and said that the United States will not hesitate to protect its interests against Iran.
“We will take action. Iran will soon feel the consequences of its actions. The response will be painful,” said Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon to the media.
The White House similarly promised “severe consequences” for Iran and spokesman Jake Sullivan told a Washington briefing that the United States “will work with Israel to do that”.
Sullivan did not specify what those results might be.
In a statement, French President Emmanuel Macron said he strongly condemned Iran’s new attack on Israel, adding that as a sign of Israel’s security commitment, France mobilized its military resources in the Middle East on Wednesday.
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a meeting on the Middle East conflict on Wednesday, while the European Union has called for an immediate ceasefire.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with his national security and economic advisers on Wednesday about the Middle East conflict and called for a quick but limited response to any impact on the country’s electricity supply, his office said.
About 1,900 people have been killed and more than 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in nearly a year of cross-border fighting, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese government figures said on Tuesday.
