QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Iran launched on Saturday night more than 100 drones and missiles toward Israel, which its air defense systems and U.S. and UK forces shot down over Syria, Iraq, and Jordan and deterred almost all of the attacks.
In the past two weeks, Iranian leaders vowed multiple times they would retaliate against the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria as Iran blamed Israel and threatened to punish it for killing senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
On April 1, Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which is adjacent to the main embassy building, killing five IRGC officers and two generals, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon.
In the past, Iranian-backed militias including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthi rebels carried out attacks against Israel. This attack, however, is a major escalation specifically originating from the Iranian government and its military.
The U.S. soon did as it promised and came to the defense of Israel and moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week.
President Joe Biden had expected a retaliatory attack from Iran “sooner than later” and frequently expressed the U.S.’ commitment to stand with Israel.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden said in a statement on Saturday night.
Additionally, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, said their forces had been on high alert all day and prepared a plan to deter the drones.
The IDF said in a post on X platform (previously Twitter) that its Aerial Defense Array, together with “Israel’s strategic allies,” successfully intercepted most of the attacks before crossing into Israeli territory.
“A small number of hits were identified, including at an IDF base in southern Israel, where minor damage was caused to infrastructure,” the IDF said.
Meanwhile, Biden strongly condemned the “unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel” by Iran and its proxies operating in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the strikes to stress America’s solid commitment to the security of Israel.
The American President is scheduled to convene the G7 leaders on Sunday to coordinate a “united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” according to a statement from the White House on Saturday night.
Early on Sunday, Iran’s Mission to the U.N. in New York justified, in a statement posted on X, the drone and missile attacks on Israel as an act of self-defense permissible under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter in response to the attack on the consulate, adding ” The matter can be deemed concluded.”
“Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe. It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!,” Iran’s mission to the U.N. stated.
Moreover, it warned the U.S. not to interfere between the two archenemies or respond to its attack on Israel.
Even though tension between the U.S. and Iran increased after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, as Iranian-backed militias launched almost daily attacks against American troops and bases in Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials ruled out that Iran would target their forces at present.
The Politico reported that a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity about assessments of the incoming strike, said that “indications are they’re not going to come after us,” adding “they are very focused on Israel.”
Nevertheless, Biden stressed that they will continue to be alert against possible attacks and threats to protect the American people.
“While we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people,” he said.