Iran will hit "all of Israel's infrastructure" if it is attacked in retaliation for Tuesday's missile attack, Iran's chief of general staff, General Mohammad Bagheri, has warned.
"If the Zionist regime, which has gone mad, is not controlled by its American and European supporters, wants to continue its crimes or act against our (national) sovereignty and territorial integrity, an operation like tonight's (in .s. yesterday), with even greater intensity" and "all its infrastructures will be targeted", General Bagheri said through Iranian state television.
Attack with 200 missiles
Iran's armed forces fired 200 missiles at Israel in an attack on Tuesday night, including — for the first time — hypersonic missiles, Iranian state television reported today.
The Revolutionary Guards, an elite body of the Iranian armed forces, assured that "90%" of the missiles launched "hit their targets". For its part, the Israeli military earlier assured that Iran fired about 180 missiles against Israeli territory, adding that most of them were intercepted and destroyed.
In June 2023, Iran unveiled a supersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, dubbed the Fatah, noting that it is capable of traveling at fifteen times the speed of sound.
The then president Ebrahim Raisi argued at the time that this particular weapon would increase the "deterrent power" of the Islamic Republic and bring more "peace and stability to the country and the region".
Hypersonic missiles are maneuverable and can travel at low altitude, which makes their trajectory very difficult to predict and interception difficult.
The moment the Revolutionary Guard commander announces the start of Operation Sincere Promise 2:
The US is jointly considering retaliation to the Iranian attack with Israel
The US government warned Iran on Tuesday of the "consequences" of its attack on Israel, adding that it was holding talks with Benjamin Netanyahu's government about retaliating against it.
"The United States fully, fully, fully supports Israel," President Joe Biden told reporters, adding that talks with the Israeli government about retaliation were "ongoing."
As the national security adviser of the US presidency, Jake Sullivan, said earlier, Joe Biden also judged that the attack proved to be "ineffective", that it was "repulsed" by the Israeli armed forces, with the contribution of the US and its other allies.
"It is completely unacceptable and the whole world must condemn (it)," said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, referring to the Iranian attack.
Yesterday's attack came as the Middle East is mired in an explosive situation and calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip fall on deaf ears. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said Iran launched "about twice as many missiles" yesterday as it did in April.
Washington said it had not been informed of any "deaths in Israel" but was seeking to gather information on the death of a Palestinian citizen in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. "It's clear that this is a significant escalation on the part of Iran, a significant development, and it's also important to consult with Israel," SEA Sullivan said.
Earlier, it was announced by the White House that President Biden had ordered his country's military to "help Israel defend itself" and that "missiles" that had been fired at the close US ally had been shot down. Just as it did on April 13, when the US military helped intercept hundreds of missiles and drones fired by Iran at Israel in retaliation for the leveling of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which was blamed on the Israeli military.
Outgoing President Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 5 presidential election, watched the developments in a crisis management room at the White House.
The US administration has insisted it wants to "coordinate" with Israel on retaliating for the attack.
"Certainly, this attack will have consequences for Iran. I won't expand on those implications today, but there are things we will be coordinating with our Israeli counterparts on," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He insisted that Washington was not informed in advance by Tehran.
"This is completely false. The Iranian government did not warn us that it was going to launch such an attack,” Mr. Miller said, refuting reports of contact.
He emphasized that Tehran did not "telegraph" information about the attack, as in April. But Washington had "indications" that Iran was about to launch ballistic missiles at Israel, he added.
Source: protothema.gr
