Protesters wave a huge Iranian flag during their anti-Israeli rally in front of an anti-Israeli banner hanging on the wall of a building in Felestin Square (Palestine). in Tehran, Iran, Monday April 15, 2024.
Vahid Salemi/AP
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Vahid Salemi/AP
Protesters wave a huge Iranian flag during their anti-Israeli rally in front of an anti-Israeli banner hanging on the wall of a building in Felestin Square (Palestine). in Tehran, Iran, Monday April 15, 2024.
Vahid Salemi/AP
The Israeli military has carried out missile strikes against Iran, a senior U.S. military official told NPR on Thursday. Explosions have also been reported in Iraq and Syria.
The strikes appear to be Israel’s pledged response to an Iranian attack on Sunday, when Tehran fired hundreds of drones and missiles into Israel. Most Iranian volleys were intercepted or caused little damage. The U.S. military official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that a military official in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, Brigadier General Mihan Dost, said the loud noises heard east of the city were the sound of air defenses intercepting what he called a “suspicious target” and that no damage had been caused. has been reported in the area.
Iranian information did not report such a strike and concluded that the noises reported near Isfahan were the interception of one or more drones. The Israeli military has not yet responded to NPR’s request for comment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on social media that there was no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.
The scale of the Israeli strikes and the weapons used were unclear.
The United States and other Western allies have urged Israel to forgo a military strike to avoid a regional conflict stemming from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Those concerns were heightened when an airstrike – which Iran blamed on Israel – killed two Iranian military commanders at the country’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1.
Iran said Sunday’s attack on Israel was a response to that.
The region has been on the brink of a broader conflict since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, which Israel says killed 1,200 people, and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, which killed more than 30 000 people according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged frequent fire over Israel’s northern border. Houthi militants, also backed by Iran, have in recent months attacked international commercial ships crossing the Red Sea. The group’s leaders say they are targeting ships with ties to Israel in response to that country’s ongoing invasion of Gaza.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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News Source : www.npr.org
