The unprecedented Iranian salvo of more than 180 ballistic missiles came less than 24 hours after the Israeli prime minister ordered the largest ground incursion into southern Lebanon in a generation.
Iran said it launched the missiles toward three Israeli military bases as retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon against its proxy Hezbollah that has devastated the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital, as well as villages in the country’s south.
The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, dealing a heavy blow to the militant group.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, hailed the attack as “a decisive response to the aggression of the Zionist regime”, adding: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not a belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat … Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.”
The order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, senior Iranian officials told Reuters.
Late on Tuesday, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s action was “concluded unless Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation”. In a statement on X, he said: “Israel’s enablers now have a heightened responsibility to rein in the warmongers in Tel Aviv instead of getting involved in their folly.”
