[🇮🇷] Iran launched ballistic missiles towards Israel

[Ghazi52]

Satellite imagery shows aftermath of Iranian strikes on air base in southern Israel​

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

Two hangars, used to store large planes at Nevatim Air Base in Israel, were heavily damaged by missiles from the Iranian attack on Tuesday, October 1.

Planet Labs

Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Tuesday destroyed at least three buildings at the Netavim Air Base in southern Israel and left at least a dozen craters, a CNN analysis of satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows.

Iran’s military chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said that the base — located in the remote Negev desert in Israel — was targeted, along with another air base and the headquarters of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.

Iran's missile attack on Tuesday, October 1, on Israel left at least a dozen craters at the Netavim Air Base in southern Israel, like the one seen in the middle of this image.

Planet Labs

Videos geolocated by CNN show a number of explosions at the airbase during the attack. Missiles tore large holes in the roofs of two hangars used to store larger planes. Debris from the structures, splintered by the missile, are scattered on the ground around the hangars.

Right next to the hangars, two additional craters are seen in a taxiway of the base. Satellite imagery shows that a portion of the taxiway hit by the missiles is being actively being excavated and repaired.

Iran also appeared to have targeted other hangars at the base. Two missiles just missed a group of hangars, which are likely used for storing fighter jets, by about 40 feet, based on where the craters are.

A third building just north of the hangars was also hit. It’s unclear what that building was used for, but it was not used to store aircraft.

Taxiways, a runway and other roadways at the base were also hit. The southernmost runway and a nearby taxiway both have craters of almost 30 feet.

 

[Ghazi52]

Biden says ‘discussing’ possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities​

• His comments send oil prices spiking a month before US presidential election

AFP
October 3, 2024

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the US presidential election.

Biden told reporters at the White House however that he was not expecting Israel to launch any retaliation for Tehran’s missile barrage on Israel before Thursday at least.

When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, Biden said “we’re discussing that. I think that would be a little… anyway.”

Oil prices jumped five percent over concerns about the Middle East after Biden spoke.

A rise in oil prices could be hugely damaging for Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican former president Donald Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.

Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel – even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently paid little heed to calls for restraint as he targets allied Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“First of all, we don’t ‘allow’ Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today,” Biden told reporters when asked if he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran.

Biden said on Wednesday that he would not back Israel attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, prompting Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay.

Iran said it was in retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Iran’s Palestinian ally Hamas, and Israel’s crushing retaliatory offensive in Gaza.

 

[Ghazi52]

US does not believe Israel has decided how it will respond to Iran attack, official says​

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

President Joe Biden speaks to the press as he prepares to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on October 3
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

The US does not believe Israel has made a decision on how to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack, according to an official familiar with the matter.

Israeli and American officials continue to discuss a response to Tuesday’s attack, but so far it is the United States’ understanding that Israel is still determining how to proceed, the official said.

Biden said earlier Thursday there were discussions about hitting Iranian oil reserves but stopped short of endorsing that option.

“We’re in discussions of that. I think that would be a little — anyway …” he said before being asked a separate, unrelated question. “There’s nothing going to happen today, we’ll talk about that later.”

The open-ended comments about targeting Iranian oil nonetheless prompted a spike in the price of oil as markets anticipated an attack on Iranian energy.

The official cautioned against speculation on what Israel might decide to hit, including oil facilities, because its leaders hadn’t yet decided on a course of action.

 

[Ghazi52]

Iranian deputy commander threatens to target Israel’s energy infrastructure​

From CNN’s Mostafa Salem

Ali Fadavi, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), delivers a speech in the Iranian capital Tehran in 2019.

Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images/File

Israel’s power plants and gas refineries could be hit in response to an attack on Iran, the deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, according to local media.

“Iran is a large and vast country and has many economic centers, while Israel has three power plants and several refineries. We can target all of these at once,” Brig. Gen. Ali Fadavi said.

Fadavi said Iran will target all energy sites if Israel makes “a mistake.”

 

[Ghazi52]

Remember:
Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles on Israeli cities Tuesday in response to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week. The strikes caused minimal damage.

In Beirut, the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also warned of a “harsh response” if Israel attacks, saying so far his country had only attacked Israeli security and military sites.

His comments echoed an earlier statement from the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said earlier today that Tuesday’s Iranian attack on Israel was the “least punishment” and that Iran will attack Israel again “if needs be.”

Araghchi was speaking to reporters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut after meeting Lebanese parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri — a Hezbollah ally and a key figure in negotiations for a ceasefire with Israel.