Iran Fires ~180 Missiles at Israel
Breaking News
NYT (“Iran Launches About 180 Ballistic Missiles at Israel“):
Iran fired several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening, a sudden assault that left Israel fighting simultaneously on three fronts and raised the likelihood of an all-out conflict between two of the most powerful militaries in the Middle East.
The attack was the culmination of a dizzying sequence of events over less than 24 hours that began with Israel launching an invasion into Lebanon to pursue the Hezbollah militia, an Iranian ally. Israel pounded Lebanon from the air throughout Tuesday as its troops advanced on the ground and Hezbollah fired rockets deep into Israel.
Iran fired about 180 missiles during its assault, the Israeli military said, making the barrage one of the largest of its kind and forcing millions of Israelis to take cover in bomb shelters for more than an hour. Many of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s air defense system, while some fell in central and southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Israel, but one Palestinian man was killed by falling shrapnel in the occupied West Bank.
The attack left the region on edge, uncertain about how Israel would respond. As Israel’s top commanders met to assess the situation, the chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel would respond in a way and at a time of its choosing. And Iran said it would fire more missiles if Israel counterattacked.
A senior White House official said the United States would help defend Israel and warned that a direct attack against Israel would “carry severe consequences for Iran.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement that the missile attack had been in retaliation for Israel’s assassinations of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah; Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh; and an Iranian commander.
Given that Israel and the United States had sufficient intelligence warnings ahead of time to make them known publicly hours ago, this could well be another one-off. Iran may well just be “doing something” to save face in the wake of numerous embarrassing setbacks for its anti-Israel proxies.
If there are significant Israeli casualties or this is followed by another wave, though, Netanyahu will have little choice but to launch direct attacks on Iran. The wider regional war all parties seemingly wanted to avoid could well be upon us.
UPDATES:
The Reuters live blog quotes US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: “Based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”
They have a headline “Israel to conduct ‘powerful strikes’ tonight throughout the Middle East, local media report” with no follow-on text
Latest reports indicates USS Cole and USS Bulkeley both engaged Iranian missiles.
Reports from Israel thus far indicate no major casualties.
Probability: Iran is trying to “save face”.
But if Israel now calculates it has a opening for large-strikes at Iranian targets in Syria and some vs Iran itself, Tehran has just opened the door.
Foolish.
Update.
One confirmed casualty at least: a Palestinian villager in Nu’eima, near Jericho. Hit by by debris from an off-target missile, or an interception.
All this because we elected a feckless, easily-manipulated wanna-be dictator to what is, barely arguably, the most powerful and consequential seat of power in the world. Despite the many lost and failed opportunities we squandered to forge, at the least, a nominal reconciliation with Iran, the JCPOA was probably the best instrument to affect a slow but gradual change in the ME dynamic. But no. Trump, with ZERO intellectual thought to our international standing or consideration for our allies and partners, unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the agreement.
Then, in what was a breach of international law, Trump authorized the assassination of Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil. You know, the Iraq that is ostensibly a U.S. regional partner? And then, via his one-sided, wanna-be, faux-dictatorial behavior, he gave tacit permission for every other rising dictator to behave badly: Duterte; Orban; Netanyahu; and, of course, Putin, who had been well on his way.
Trump is the author of all this current Shiite in the region. He unleashed this. I can’t this f*kg guy. And now, millions of idiots want to re-elect this slimy, moss-covered rock back to power.
I imagine the GOP and their lackeys are salivating at the ways they can politicize a wider war once the natural disaster politicization has run its course.
@DeD: Stop sugar coating this and tell us what you really think.
“Seemingly” want to avoid. Indeed.
One hopes the Pentagon has figured out commercial replacement for the USNS Big Horn, the oiler of the USS Abraham Strike Group that ran aground a week ago. Sure, the carrier is nuclear, but the planes need jet fuel.
Good to see Fox News admit the haitians-eating-pets story was entirely made up out of whole cloth.
The follow-up discussion should be.. How much on that network has the same level of truth?
The answer, of course, is everything.
@JKB:
Have you ever seen allied forces UNREP at speed? It’s a sight to behold.
@JKB:
Umm, that would be the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group?
Well, oil tankers are not that thin on the ground around the Arabian Sea, generally speaking.
If there are no other US oilers or commercial hireable in the vicinity, the Aussies would doubtless be prepared to pitch in.
More widely: yes, the USN may need more fleet supply capability.
No doubt the new vessels ordered under the Trump administration will soon be available?
Wait, what?
This is literally the least Iran could do. Apparently they killed one guy: a Palestinian. Because the Middle East sense of humor is very dark.
Israel just did to Iran what Ukraine has done to Russia. The emperor has no clothes. I was absolutely surprised that Russia was as weak as it is. And I am less surprised, but still somewhat surprised, that Iran/Hezbollah/Hamas turn out to be mostly bullshit.
Let’s see, ballistic missile attack from Iran – think that is an indirect declaration of WAR under the various Geneva Conventions. Until today, all was via proxies. No longer, Iran has declared formal war against Israel, period. The bigoted mullahs of Iran overstepped and I don’t know where this will go except the theocracy is going down. How anyone could support these crazies is beyond me. As a former expert in non-proliferation, sorry, Iran has had “a bomb” for over a decade (not a good bomb) and I hope it doesn’t go to that. (If it does, sorry, Israel will eliminate Iran’s C2 and be justified, Iranian suicide) – I really hope the nuclear genie is not let out of the bottle.
@Richard Gardner:
Oh, Richard. Apply that insight into what’s happening here at home, and there you will find the answer.