Iran claims the missile attacks have been completed, but Israel vows to retaliate

Iran has said its missile attack on Israel has ended and will not be renewed unless Tehran is forced to act again amid growing fears of a wider regional conflict.

Tehran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1, its largest attack to date, in retaliation for the southern Lebanese state’s campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, prompting warnings of countermeasures from Israel and of his main ally. , United States of America.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a message on X that the attack targeted “exclusively military and security sites” involved in what he said was Israel’s “genocide in Gaza and Lebanon” and was carried out by Iran in “self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter UN”.

“Our action is over, unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In this scenario, our response will be stronger and stronger,” Araghchi said.

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) previously said the missile attack was in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week.

Hezbollah is both an armed group and a political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its military wing.

Israeli air defenses intercepted most of the 180 rockets that were fired, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, although some landed in central and southern Israel. He told the Israelis about an hour after the attack was launched that it was safe for them to leave the bomb shelters.

Israeli rescuers said two people were slightly wounded by shrapnel while in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho “when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him,” according to the city’s governor, Hussein Hamayel.

As the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the Middle East for October 2, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “a big mistake” and said Tehran “will pay for this.” He added: “Whoever attacks us, we attack them.”

US President Joe Biden said he would discuss a response with Netanyahu. Asked what the answer would be, Biden said: “That’s under active discussion right now. Remains to be seen”.

Separately, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criticized what he said was an “outrageous act of aggression” by Iran, while Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told the media that the attack would have ” serious consequences”.

He added that the attack appeared to have been “defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to the Israeli military capability and the US military,” and said the United States “fully supports Israel.”

Israeli police have reported that at least six people have been killed and nine injured in a shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv.

Police said it was a “terrorist” attack carried out at a light rail station, and the two attackers were later killed by civilians and inspectors using their own firearms. There was no claim of liability.

While the rocket attack sent Israelis scurrying for shelter in bomb shelters, it caused the people of Iran to celebrate. State television broadcast footage from the city of Mashhad showing people in the streets waving the yellow Hezbollah flag and portraits of the group’s slain chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Similar celebrations were also held in the capital Tehran and several provincial cities.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned Iran’s attack “in the strongest terms”, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack was “totally unacceptable ” and should be condemned by the whole world.

Earlier on October 1, the Israeli military said it launched “targeted and precise” raids inside Lebanon in what it called a “limited” ground incursion that began overnight, adding that its troops were engaged in “heavy fighting” with Hezbollah.

Israel has launched heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah in recent weeks, killing Nasrallah as well as several Hezbollah leaders and other members of sanctioned militant groups.

Via RFE/RL

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