Category Archives: Iran

Middle East crisis: Lammy to visit Bahrain and Jordan – as it happened

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Turkey will evacuate its citizens who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Reuters reports it said in a statement that two Turkish navy ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of about 2,000 passengers, adding that the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary.

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Israel on high alert for 7 October as it escalates Gaza and Lebanon conflicts

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Overnight Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, while at least 10 people were reportedly injured after a Hezbollah rocket hit the city of Haifa

Israel will hold memorials for the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Monday as the war it launched in response escalates on two fronts, with heavy bombing raids and mass evacuation orders issued in Lebanon and Gaza amid the growing possibility of a retaliatory airstrike against Iran.

As Israelis across the country prepared to mark one year since Hamas launched its devastating attack, a region that has spiralled into unprecedented crisis was on high alert. In Israel, authorities said they were on the lookout for attacks timed to coincide with the anniversary after a gunman opened fire on pedestrians in a central bus station in a city in the Negev desert, killing one and wounding 10 in the second attack in the last week.

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Middle East crisis: Iran confirms resumption of air traffic – as it happened

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The death toll from the Israeli strike on the Gaza mosque has risen to 24, according to local authorities. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 93 people were also wounded in the strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital told the Associated Press that the strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people. Eyewitnesses told Reuters the same. However Israeli forces say the mosque was being used as a Hamas command and control centre “to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel”, and that it took steps to reduce the chance of harming civilians. An AP reporter counted 18 bodies at the hospital morgue, and said hospital records listed all those killed as men.

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Escalation with Iran could be risky: Israel is more vulnerable than it seems

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Intelligence analysis of Tehran’s attack suggests that much-touted Israeli missile defences are not, in fact, impregnable

In the aftermath of Iran’s attack on Israel on Tuesday night, Israeli officials claimed their defences had stood firm. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Iran had launched more than 180 missiles, but few details about the damage were released and the US’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective”.

But as Israel prepares its retaliation, analysts believe those initial reports could have been misleading – and could change the calculus of Israel’s response if it fears getting into a bout of protracted “missile ping-pong” with Iran, especially should Tehran choose softer targets in the future.

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Israel ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack as 7 October anniversary looms

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Military also ordering civilians in two Gaza camps to evacuate, while operations in Lebanon continue to ramp up

The Israeli military is expanding its operations on multiple fronts around the anniversary of the 7 October attacks on Monday, including planning for a “significant and serious” retaliation against Iran for last week’s large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel.

Signs of imminent Israeli retaliation against Iran came as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, called for an international embargo on arms delivered to Israel for use against Gaza, where authorities say more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s year long assault.

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Middle East crisis live: night of bombing in south Beirut; IDF confirms Gaza mosque strike

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Israeli army issued evacuation warnings on Saturday to people in the south of Lebanese capital; Israel says Deir al-Balah mosque in Gaza was Hamas site

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and 96,910 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the territory’s health authorities said on Saturday.

A South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry said.

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Blasts shake Beirut’s southern suburbs as Israeli military urges evacuations

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Explosions and smoke reported in capital early on Saturday while Hezbollah says clashes continue with Israeli troops in Lebanon border area

A series of explosions were heard over Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Saturday after the Israeli military demanded evacuations for some areas while Hezbollah said it was engaged in continued clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanon border area.

Israel said on Friday it had targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut and was assessing the damage after a series of strikes on senior figures in the militant group that Iran’s supreme leader condemned as counterproductive.

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More blasts in Beirut after Israel demands new evacuations – as it happened

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The Israeli military launched a series of strikes on southern Beirut on Thursday night, in one of the most intense bombardments on the city since the campaign began last week.

A source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital.

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Iran’s Ali Khamenei vows Hezbollah and Hamas will not back down

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In rare public address, supreme leader defends missile attack on Israel and makes appeal for Muslim unity

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed that Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza will re-emerge strongly with new leaders, as an Israeli airstrike cut Lebanon’s main route to Syria.

In a rare public sermon in front of tens of thousands in Tehran on Friday, Khamenei defended the “legal and legitimate” ballistic missile attack on Israel this week that Iran has said was in retaliation for the deaths of the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, and the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

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Israel launches intense attacks on Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s south

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Reports suggest strikes were targeting Hashem Safieddine, seen as most likely candidate to replace Hassan Nasrallah

The Israeli military launched a series of strikes on southern Beirut on Thursday night, in one of the most intense bombardments on the city since the campaign began last week as Hezbollah continued to attack northern Israel.

The raids came as Israel also cut off a key road near to Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing with Syria that has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days.

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Biden says US ‘discussing’ possible Israeli plans to attack Iran’s oil industry

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President’s off-the-cuff remark outside White House over possible retaliation triggers global oil price rise

Joe Biden has said that his administration has been “discussing” possible Israeli plans to attack Iran’s oil industry in retaliation for the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Tuesday.

Biden’s off-the-cuff remark did not make clear whether his administration was holding internal discussions or talking directly to Israel, nor did he clarify what his attitude was to such an attack.

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What are the risks involved in Israeli options for retaliatory strikes on Iran?

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Israel has several possible targets including military, economic or even nuclear sites, but all come with caveats

Israel has several options if its leaders want to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran, and while western leaders have urged restraint, a significant assault is expected. Possibilities could include strikes against military, economic or even nuclear targets, although Joe Biden said he had told Benjamin Netanyahu’s government the US would not support the last option.

Iran has relatively weak air defences and it is expected it would struggle to prevent Israeli missiles or an air force bombing run, as was revealed on 19 April. Then, Israel, responding to Iran’s previous missile barrage, damaged part of Iran’s best air defence system, a Russian S-300, in the military-industrial city of Isfahan. It was a strike intended to showcase to Iran what Israel was capable of.

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After a fortnight of military triumph, what is Israel’s endgame?

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Hawks argue Tehran’s missile assault gives legitimacy to a direct attack on Iran – but would ‘wars and wars and wars’ guarantee greater security?

Israel is enjoying a moment of military and intelligence triumph. Over two weeks, it has killed an “archenemy” in his secret bunker, decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, blown up the militant group’s communications networks and parts of its arsenal and humbled its sponsor, Iran.

As its ground troops marched into Lebanon, Israel fended off a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack with backing from the US and other allies.

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Gulf states call on international community to fulfil responsibilities in the region – as it happened

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Danish police said on Wednesday morning that they were investigating two blasts in the vicinity of Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen.

“No one has been injured, and we are carrying out initial investigations at the scene,” Copenhagen police said in a statement. They said a “possible connection” to the Israeli embassy, which is located in the area, was being investigated.

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US would not support Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, says Biden

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Top Israeli diplomat at UN warns his country’s retaliation for Iranian missile attack will be heavier than Tehran ‘could ever have imagined’

Joe Biden has said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites, as the US sought to temper Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday and contain a rapidly escalating regional conflict.

Biden’s comments came after the top Israeli diplomat at the UN warned his country’s retaliation for an Iranian salvo of nearly 200 ballistic missiles would be heavier than Tehran “could ever have imagined”.

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West planned for months to repel long-range Iranian attack – but Israel did not need them

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Most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems

Quiet planning by the US, UK and other allies to help Israel repel an Iranian long-range attack have been going on for several months or more – but most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems.

The only reported military engagements in support of Israel were a dozen interceptors fired by two US warships in the eastern Mediterranean, while Jordan said its own air defence systems and air force were involved in targeting Iranian missiles.

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Israel vows to retaliate after Iran launches unprecedented missile attack

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Iran sends more than 180 ballistic missiles in dramatic escalation of conflict

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel in a dramatic intensification of a conflict that appeared to be escalating out of control.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”

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Iran calls missile attack on Israel ‘legal, rational and legitimate’

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High-risk assault reflects Iranian elite’s belief that restraint after assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was strategic mistake

Iran said its supreme leader made the decision to fire dozens of missiles into Israel as retaliation for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the recent killings of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, two of the main groups in Iran’s so-called axis of resistance.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the decision had been made by Ali Khamenei with the backing of the supreme national security council (SNSC) and the Iranian defence ministry.

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Biden reaffirms US support for Israel amid Iran’s missile attack

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President directed the military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults as US ‘fully supportive’ of ally

Joe Biden has reaffirmed US support for Israel after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, describing the barrage as “defeated and ineffective” and ordering the US military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults.

“The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to Israeli military capability and the US military,” the US president told reporters on Tuesday after Tehran launched an unprecedented salvo of 180 high-speed ballistic missiles.

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Stopping Iran’s attack would have forced Israel to use sophisticated – and expensive – defences

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Despite launching 180 ballistic missiles, Iran is likely to have wanted to keep most of its stock in case of a full-blown war with Israel

Iran’s decision to launch about 180 high-speed ballistic missiles at Israel indicates that Tehran sought to inflict serious damage in Tuesday’s night attack, unlike the well-telegraphed drone and missile attack in April.

Their sheer speed makes ballistic weapons challenging to intercept, but the initial reports of no fatalities within Israel and one in the West Bank would suggest despite the numbers of missiles launched it was a military failure, though some of the weapons or fragments appear to have struck the ground.

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