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Iran launches dozens of drones at Israel

US and Israel confirm that an aerial attack on Israeli territory is under way as Jordan and Iraq close their airspace.

Iran has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel, according to Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC said on Saturday that it has released the drones and missiles under the operation “True Promise”, adding that the move is part of the punishment for “Israeli crimes”.

fence systems around the capital Damascus and major bases in the event of an Israeli strike, army sources told the Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel announced that they closed their airspace.

The development comes nearly two weeks after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria killed seven IRGC members.

“Iran launched UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel,” Israel’s army’s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said late on Saturday.

“We are on high alert and readiness,” he added in a televised address, saying the drones would take several hours before reaching Israel’s airspace.

Israel has been on heightened alert since its strike on Damascus on April 1, even though it did not comment on ta possible attack. Iran pledged revenge and a retaliatory attack had been expected.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel was prepared for a “direct attack from Iran”.

Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant said Israel was “closely monitoring a planned attack” against it by Iran and its allies in the region.

gun an airborne attack against Israel, which is likely to unfold over several hours.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that President Joe Biden is regularly updated by his national security team and is in constant communication with Israeli officials, US partners and allies.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that President Joe Biden is regularly updated by his national security team and is in constant communication with Israeli officials, US partners and allies.

‘A country waiting’

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian armed forces seized a container ship linked to Israel near the Strait of Hormuz.

“We know that planes are patrolling in the skies above [Israel], we know that Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with his war cabinets, his security cabinets this evening,” said Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.

“We understand that they are considering shutting down the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv for the whole country. So this is a country… waiting for those drones to arrive.”

Challands said that although Haggari did not confirm how long it would take, “it will have to go through several countries’ airspace … They could take about nine hours to arrive”.

Aljasiira

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Iran’s IRGC seizes ‘Israeli-linked’ ship near Strait of Hormuz

IRGC forces conducted an operation via helicopter to take control of the commercial vessel, state media reports.

Tehran, Iran – Iranian armed forces have seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions across the region after a deadly Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria.

The ship was commandeered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite force that lost seven members, including two generals, in the Syria strike, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

“The ship has now been guided towards the territorial waters of our country,” state-run IRNA reported.

The vessel was identified as the Portugal-flagged MSC Aries, which reportedly departed from a port in the United Arab Emirates en route to India. It is associated with the London-based Zodiac Maritime, a part of the Zodiac Group run by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer and his family.

Footage from the deck of the vessel obtained by The Associated Press news agency on Saturday showed soldiers rappelling down from a helicopter.

‌The helicopter appeared to be a Soviet-designed Mil Mi-17, which is operated by the naval forces of the IRGC.

Zodiac Maritime said in a statement that MSC, an Italian-Swiss shipping group, was responsible for all vessel activities.

MSC confirmed there were 25 crew members on board the ship, adding in a statement that it is “working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel”.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) had said a vessel was seized by “regional authorities” 50 nautical miles (92km) northeast of the UAE’s Fujairah in a waterway vital to world trade.

Another Israeli-linked container ship was attacked and damaged by a drone in the Indian Ocean in late November, which the United States blamed on Iran.

tion in violation of international law”.

He called on the European Union and “the free world to immediately declare” the IRGC a “terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now”.

Aljasiira

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Biden

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 Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defence against these threats from Iran.

Sunik  has condemned:

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In the strongest terms the Iranian regime’s reckless attack against Israel

 

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