MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Iran hits Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles

“We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed,” Khamenei said

Following Israel's bombing in the wee hours of Friday which damaged strategic military facilities and equipment in addition to killing top rank officers and over 70 people in total, Iran retaliated early Saturday with a barrage of ballistic missiles hitting Tel Aviv, leading to at least two casualties and dozens of people injured.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard described the operation as a “decisive and precise” response to the air operation that Israel carried out hours before over Tehran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: “We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.”

Israel's emergency services and firefighters worked to rescue trapped individuals and extinguish fires. The Times of Israel reported at least seven confirmed direct hits in the metropolitan area. Defense systems intercepted some missiles and later allowed people to leave the shelters but urged them to stay nearby.

“Firefighters are working at a wrecked site between several buildings. Crews are working to rescue two trapped people and extinguish the fire,” the fire department said in a statement. ”In another incident (...) firefighters are working on a multi-story building. There was significant destruction at the site. Explorations are being carried out to locate trapped persons,“ the corps added.

The escalating conflict was triggered by the Iran-funded terrorist organization Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, storming into Israeli territory, killing some 1,200 people and taking over 200 others hostage, of whom some 50 remain in captivity, although only 20 are believed to still be alive.

Following the Iranian onslaught, Israeli forces struck Tehran, seeking to kill other leaders of the Islamic Republic, in addition to minimizing its response capabilities to prevent an encore of the previous raid on Tel Aviv. There were no reports on the outcome of these incursions. However, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency confirmed a fire at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, with a video posted on X of a column of smoke and orange flames.

Military analysts quoted by international media foresee the conflict to last between one and two weeks, with a probable government change in Iran in the horizon. Despite US President Donald Trump's tactful approach at the conflict, Washington is still believed to be helping Tel Aviv while Tehran appears not to have any military assistance from abroad. According to sources wishing to remain anonymous, US ground-based air defense systems participated in the protection of Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Iran's nuclear weaponry development was ”a clear and present danger” to his country's survival. He also repeated in a message to the people on Iran that his fight was not against them but against the dictatorship ruling in Tehran since 1979. Netanyahu also thanked Trump for his assistance and said the US was informed in advance of the attack.

On Thursday, Iran was censured by the UN's atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

While Jordan's state-run Petra news agent said the country would reopen its airspace to civilian aircraft at 7:30 am Saturday, Syrian authorities announced they were closing theirs completely given the latest events.