[🇮🇷] Breaking! Israel has attacked Iran. Live Coverage

[Bilal9]

Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f44-YtDZLy4

Live Feed. Please merge with other live feeds in this topic if necessary. Our prayers are with the brave Iranian people. May they have courage and persist.

 

[Old School]

[h2]Information confirming that the explosions were in the airspace of Isfahan without any explosion on the ground[/h2]
The spokesman for the Iranian Space Agency confirmed that the air defenses confronted 3 targets in the sky of the city of Isfahan

 

[Old School]

Sources confirm that there were no explosions on the ground in the city of Isfahan and the sounds were caused by Iranian air defenses.

 

[Bilal9]

Earlier today - Iranian Foreign Minister clarified a lot of factors in this "skirmish" with CNN.

 

[Old School]

Saberin News' Telegram channel reported Friday morning that the province of Sweida in southern Syria and a region in Iraq has been targeted.

 

[Old School]

Some aerial objects were shot down by Iranian air defense. Some videos circulating about the impact on Ispahan are fake. No aerial objects hit ground targets in Tabriz, all sounds were a result of interceptors exploding over Tabriz's sky.

 

[Old School]

Sirens over Northern Israel
[H2]Israeli media: Sirens sound in a number of northern settlements as a result of the penetration of an unknown aircraft into the skies[/H2]

 

[Old School]

Iranian air defense forces shot down several drones in the sky over Isfahan, Iranian television reported.
Previously, the American TV channel ABC News reported that Israel had launched a missile attack on Iran. According to media reports, explosions thundered in the area of the airport of the city of Isfahan and the 8th base of the Iranian Air Force, air defense systems worked there.
According to the Fars news agency, three explosions were heard in Isfahan, air defense forces were presumably involved due to the appearance of small drones. A possible target of the UAV could be an army radar station. Also, windows were broken in several office buildings in the vicinity.
According to the Tasnim news agency, the nuclear facilities in Isfahan are completely safe.
According to the state agency IRNA, air defense forces repelled the attack in other provinces of Iran as well. In particular, the sound of the explosion was heard in the west of Tabriz and in the area of Wadi e Rahmat. The country's authorities canceled flights over Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.

 

[Old School]

This is basically a disinformation campaign to save Bibi Netanyahu's face than an actual effective air strike on Iranian targets. It seems that what we have witnessed is nothing more than a media "bubble" to mislead Iranian and international public opinion.

 

[Old School]

 

[Lulldapull]

Boy, lot of people saying Isra-heel actually don’t even got da means to retaliate against Iran. They fired a missile and it landed in western Iraq in a corn field and it didn’t even explode. Al-Gurdish dissidents flew 3 Walmart quad copters with fire crackers hanging underneath desperately tryin ta target some military warehouse in Isfahan and Irani AI/optical FLIR sentry’s shot dem down in two seconds…..

The emperor’s got no clothes!

What to do now?

 

[ghazi]

[H3]Western officials say Israel just 'testing the waters'[/H3]
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian correspondent
Iranians woke up to reports of a "micro drones" attack on a military site in Isfahan, central Iran.
Some western officials with knowledge of Israel's possible retaliation against Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel believe that this is only "the first stage".
"The strategy is: Minor attack to make Iran react for a major response on the nuclear sites", according to a western diplomat in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, a western military official says that based on reports from Syria and Iran - indicating that some essential radars were the target of drone strikes in both countries, "Israelis are kind of mirroring Iran and its allies like Hezbollah by first trying to destroy radars, creating false or delusive targets as well as trying to damage the radars to disable interception systems," they said.
There is still a lot of contradictory information coming out from Iran regarding the incident, with IRGC-linked media Tasnim denying "any attack on Iran" quoting "informed sources".
While some Iranian officials told media that "there won't be any reaction from Iran to the incident".
But the question is, was this really Israel's expected retaliation? Western officials I talked to believe it was not. They tell me it is only a "trap" to "test the waters."

 

[ghazi]

Countries around the globe have been calling on both Iran and Israel to show restraint after this latest strike, amid fears the conflict could escalate across the region.

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak avoids commenting on reports of an Israeli attack on Iran, saying it "wouldn't be right for me to speculate until the facts become clearer". He repeats calls for de-escalation: "Significant escalation is not in anyone's interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region."
• China also calls for de-escalation. Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said "China opposes any actions that further escalate tensions and will continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate the situation."
• Egypt, a key player in the mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, says that they are deeply concerned about an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran. A foreign ministry statement warned of the consequences of expanding the conflict and instability in the region.
• Turkey also calls on all parties to refrain from steps that could lead to a wider conflict. A foreign ministry statement said it was becoming "increasingly obvious" that the tensions between Iran and Israel following the attack on 1 April risked "turning into a permanent conflict".
• Germany pleads for restraint, with the government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit saying "De-escalation must be the advice of the hour, we must prevent a conflagration at all costs," adding that it goes to "all sides".

 

[Old School]

Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation.

 

[Bilal9]

It's clear Israel is following "Hold me back Bro" principle to save face at this time...very wise for the Iranians not to respond.

 

[4MikeEcho]

Boy, lot of people saying Isra-heel actually don’t even got da means to retaliate against Iran. They fired a missile and it landed in western Iraq in a corn field and it didn’t even explode. Al-Gurdish dissidents flew 3 Walmart quad copters with fire crackers hanging underneath desperately tryin ta target some military warehouse in Isfahan and Irani AI/optical FLIR sentry’s shot dem down in two seconds…..

The emperor’s got no clothes!

What to do now?

I would be very careful of this mulsim gungho-ness that Iran is a superpower and Israel has nothing. This is the mindset that some had Hamas went in and first week of Israel's retaliation.

2million lives disrupted and all of Gaza decimated and most muslim loser nations either quiet or helpoing Israel.

If what you say is true, Iran would not have done a calculated strike and then called it quits.

I am not saying Israel cannot be challenged but to say they don't have the means is a joke

 

[ghazi]

[H3]Israel's Iran attack carefully calibrated after internal splits, US pressure[/H3]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet had initially approved plans for a strike on Monday night

Reuters
April 19, 2024

Iranians attend an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, April 19, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

Israel's apparent strike on Iran after days of vacillation was small and appeared calibrated to dial back risks of a major war, even if the sheer fact it happened at all shattered a taboo of direct attacks that Tehran broke days earlier.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet had initially approved plans for a strike on Monday night inside Iranian territory to respond forcefully to last Saturday's missile and drones from Iran, but held back at the last minute, three sources with knowledge of the situation said.

By then, the sources said, the three voting members of the war cabinet had already ruled out the most drastic response - a strike on strategic sites including Iran's nuclear facilities whose destruction would almost certainly provoke a wider regional conflict.

Facing cabinet divisions and strong warnings from partners including the United States and in the Gulf not to escalate, and aware of the need to keep international opinion on Israel's side, the plans to hit back were then postponed twice, the sources said. Two war cabinet meetings were also delayed twice, government officials said.

Netanyahu's office did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Before the attack, a spokesperson for the government's National Public Diplomacy Directorate cited Netanyahu as saying Israel would defend itself in whatever way it judged appropriate.

Reuters spoke to a dozen sources in Israel, Iran and in the Gulf region, as well as the United States, who described six frantic days of efforts in the Gulf, the US and among some of Israel's war planners to limit the response to Iran's first-ever direct attack on its arch-rival after decades of shadow war.


"We warned against the grave danger inherent in further escalation," Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Reuters, saying a wider regional conflict would have catastrophic consequences and risked diverting global attention from Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

Safadi said his country, which borders Israel, had "made it clear to all it will not be a battleground for Israel and Iran. This firm position was unequivocally delivered to all."

Most of the sources asked not to be named to speak about sensitive matters.

The eventual strike on Friday appeared to target an Iranian Air Force base near the city of Isfahan, deep inside the country and close enough to nuclear facilities to send a message of Israel's reach but without using airplanes, ballistic missiles, striking any strategic sites or causing major damage.

Iran said its defence systems shot down three drones over a base near Isfahan early on Friday. Israel said nothing about the incident. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had not been involved in any offensive operations.




An Iranian official told Reuters there were signs the drones were launched from within Iran by "infiltrators," which could obviate the need for retaliation.

A source familiar with Western intelligence assessments of the incident also said initial evidence suggested Israel launched drones from inside Iranian territory. Iran's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

"Israel tried to calibrate between the need to respond and a desire not to enter into a cycle of action and counter-reaction that would just escalate endlessly," said Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington.

He described the situation as a dance, with both parties signalling to each other their intentions and next steps.

"There is huge relief across the Gulf region. It looks like the attack was limited and proportionate and caused limited damage. I see it a de-escalation," veteran Saudi analyst Abdelrahman al-Rashed told Reuters.

Biden call

The decision to hold back from broader and immediate action this week underlined the competing pressures on Netanyahu's government in the aftermath of the more than 300 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles fired by Iran on Saturday night.

As Iran's barrage unfolded, two members of the war cabinet, Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both former armed forces commanders, wanted to respond straight away before agreeing to hold off following a call with US President Joe Biden and in the face of differing views from other ministers, two Israeli officials with knowledge of the situation said.

A spokesman for Gantz, a centrist who joined Netanyahu's emergency government following the Hamas-led attack on Israel last October, did not respond to a request for comment.

The US State Department declined to comment to questions about Israel's decision-making. Washington was working to de-escalate tensions, Blinken said on Friday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Aryeh Deri, the head of one of the ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's coalition, who has observer status in the war cabinet and who has generally been wary of drastic moves, was firmly opposed to an immediate strike against Iran, which he believed could endanger the people of Israel given the risk of escalation, a spokesperson for his party said.

"We should also be listening to our partners, to our friends in the world. I say this clearly: I see no shame or weakness in doing so," Deri told the "Haderech" newspaper.

Israel's options ranged from strikes on strategic Iranian facilities, including nuclear sites or Revolutionary Guards bases, to covert operations, targeted assassinations and cyber attacks on strategic industrial plants and nuclear facilities, analysts and former officials in Israel have said.

Gulf countries had been increasingly worried the situation would spill into "a grave regional conflagration which might be beyond anyone's control or ability to contain," said Abdelaziz al-Sagher, head of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Centre.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had publicly called for maximum "self-restraint" to spare the region from a wider war.

Sagher said Gulf countries had warned the United States of the risk of escalation, arguing Israel should conduct only a limited attack without casualties or significant damage that could provoke a major reprisal.

This messaging "was relayed forcefully" in the last few days by the Jordanians, Saudis, and Qataris through direct security and diplomatic channels, one senior regional intelligence source said.

The governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

By Thursday, four diplomatic and government sources in the region were expressing confidence that the response would be limited and proportionate.

Ahead of the overnight Israeli strike, one regional source, who had been briefed on Israel's thinking, said the response would aim to minimize or completely avoid casualties and was likely to target a military base.

Flying F-35 fighter jets from Israel to Iran, or launching missiles from Israel would almost certainly violate the airspace of neighbouring countries, angering Arab states who Netanyahu has long sought to cultivate as strategic allies, said a Gulf government source with knowledge of the issues.

He couldn't "just fly F-35 fighter jets across the region and bomb Iran or its nuclear sites," the source said.

Iranian officials had warned a major Israeli attack would trigger immediate retaliation.

Iran's options to respond included shutting down the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes, urging proxies to hit Israeli or US interests, and deploying previously unused missiles, a senior Iranian official said.

While satisfying Israel's moderates at home, its neighbours and international partners, the measured strike, when it came, was met with dismay from hardliners in Netanyahu's cabinet.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose ultranationalist party is a key prop in Netanyahu's coalition, posted a single word on X, "Feeble."

 

[Lulldapull]

I would be very careful of this mulsim gungho-ness that Iran is a superpower and Israel has nothing. This is the mindset that some had Hamas went in and first week of Israel's retaliation.

2million lives disrupted and all of Gaza decimated and most muslim loser nations either quiet or helpoing Israel.

If what you say is true, Iran would not have done a calculated strike and then called it quits.

I am not saying Israel cannot be challenged but to say they don't have the means is a joke

Yaar how would Isra-heel react? I don't even believe those Scalp copies the IDF operates got the range to make it to Iran from Isra-heel. Same same Dellilah mayzile. Honestly I also don't believe that they have enough Jericho IRBM's to make any diff. Eff-Sola/ Thurrtty Fav's don't got da range nor da corridor available and if they get shot down in large numbers, it will severely hurt not just LM but also dozens of US toady very hard. Mark my words, if Isra-heel backs down, it is confirming my suspicion dat Irani hamla last week has broken Isra-heels back. Isra-heel key saari hawa nikal gaee hae after that chappairr.

 

[ghazi]

 

[ghazi]