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On the evening of October 1, Iran launched massive waves of missile strikes on the Israeli territory. The IRGC confirmed the attack claiming that it was launched in response to the recently launched Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, aggression in the Gaza Strip and assassination of Hezbollah leader.
During the attack on Israel, the Iranian military launched ballistic and hypersonic missiles, which broke through the Israeli air defense system and reached the targets. According to Iran, up to 80% of missiles were not intercepted and struck their targets. According to other preliminary estimations, the Israeli Iron Dome and aircraft failed to intercept about 40% of targets. The footage confirms that the Israeli air defense failed to repel the attack.
The full text of the IRGC statement claims:
In the name of Allah, the All-merciful,
We take revenge on criminals
The great Islamic nation, the noble and illustrious people of Iran! Some time ago, after a period of restraint in response to the violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran in connection with the terror of martyr Dr. Ismail Haniyeh carried out by the Zionist regime, and in response to the country’s right to legitimate self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter, as well as to the intensification of the atrocities of the regime with the support of the United States in the massacre of the people of Lebanon and Gaza, and also to the martyrdom of the great fighter, the leader of the Axis of resistance and the outstanding Secretary General of Hizbullah, Syed Hassan Nasrallah, and the martyrdom of the outstanding commander and senior adviser of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Lebanon, Lieutenant General, a decision was made, the details of which will be presented later.
It should be noted that this operation was carried out with the approval of the Supreme National Security Council and under the leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, with the support and assistance of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Ministry of Defense.
We warn that if the Zionist regime reacts to this operation, which complies with the legitimate rights of the country and international laws, with military action, it will face crushing and destructive retaliatory strikes.
Iran informed the United States and Russia of its intentions before striking Israel. No strikes were carried out on civilian targets.
Israel came under at least two waves of strikes. Air raid sirens are sounding throughout Israel. People were asked to stay in shelters. In about an hour, Israel claimed that the attack ended, so the population could leave shelters until further notice.
The first reports claimed that Iran launched about 200 missiles but in fact the attack was much larger and according to preliminary estimations, up to 400-500 missiles were used in the attack. The scale of the attack confirms that if such a large number of missiles were used in the first attack, then the Iranian military has accumulated much larger reserves of missiles for the case of the further escalation than predicted by the Israeli and American intelligence.
Explosions thundered throughout the country. The Israeli military acknowledged ” several strikes in the center and in the southern regions of the country”.
“At this stage, we are still assessing [the attack], but we are not aware of casualties,” the IDF reported.
UPDATE: Iran emphasizes that it specifically hit the IDF military facilities and gas platforms, so there will not be a large number of civilian casualties. The Israeli Ministry of Health reported that there were no casualties from rocket fire in the country, with the exception of minor injuries from shrapnel.
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Biden ordered the Pentagon to assist Israel in “protective measures.” According to Al-Jazeera, the US air defense forces were intercepting Iranian missiles from the Ayn al-Asad military base in the west of Iraq. Soon there were reports about missile strikes on the US Ayn al-Asad military base in Iraq.
Several Iranian missiles were shot down over the territory of Jordan.
At the same time, the northern Israeli regions came under strikes launched from the Lebanese territory amid the ongoing escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The scale of the damage and the exact targets of the Iranian attack are yet to be clarified. According to preliminary reports, Israeli drilling rigs were struck in the Mediterranean Sea. According to local reports, there were strikes at a military bases, airfields etc. Launchers of air defense systems were also struck.
Iranian media claim that 20 F-35 fighter jets were destroyed during strikes on Israeli air bases with hypersonic missiles. It is reported that the Nevatim airbase was struck. F–35s took off from the airbase to strike Lebanon.
Some of the Iranian missiles reportedly struck the Netzarim area in the Gaza Strip, “destroying a large number” of Israeli tanks.
The military standoff is accompanied by media battles. During the attack, reversed videos of the alleged Iranian strikes were widely shared online. In fact, the footage showed the launches by Israeli air defense forces.
Tel-Aviv is threatening Teheran with response, while Iran calmly response that it is ready for any escalation. The Israeli revenge attack is likely to be launched in the nearest future, probably, today or tomorrow night. The targets could be facilities of the Iranian energy system. The ongoing escalation can be assessed as another battle of the WWIII.
