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Tehran said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war. (Screengrab of missile attack)
A passenger video captures an Iranian missile barrage at Israel, prompting Netanyahu’s vow of retaliation as fears of a wider conflict rise
A passenger on a flight to Dubai recorded a chilling video on Tuesday of an Iranian rocket barrage heading toward Israel. The footage, released by the New York Post, shows the intensity of the missile attack, as nearly 180 rockets were fired, prompting threats of retaliation and fear of all-out in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that arch-foe Iran would pay for its missile attack against Israel on Tuesday. Tehran said any retaliation would be met with “vast destruction”, raising fears of a wider war.
‘Iran made a big mistake tonight’
As the US backed its longtime ally Israel, Iran’s armed forces said direct intervention by Israel’s supporters against Tehran would provoke a “strong attack” from Iran on their “bases and interests” in the region. “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said at the outset of a political-security meeting, according to a statement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the assault was in retaliation for Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against the Iran-backed armed movement Hezbollah and in Gaza.
Fears that Iran and the US would be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel’s intensifying assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip. In its attack on Tuesday, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, Israel said. Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley.
‘Severe and dangerous escalation’
Israelis piled into bomb shelters and reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts. Iran’s forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90% of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.
Israeli air defences were activated and most missiles were intercepted “by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X, adding: “Iran’s attack is a severe and dangerous escalation.”
(With agency inputs)
