Iran said on Wednesday that its missile attack on Israel, the largest military attack against the Jewish state, was over, barring further provocation, as Israel and the United States vowed to retaliate against Tehran as fears of a wider war intensified. writes Reuters.
Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued on Wednesday.
Israel renewed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, with at least twelve airstrikes on what it said were targets linked to the group.
Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from parts of the suburb. Israel has issued new evacuation orders for the area, which has been mostly emptied after days of heavy strikes.
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Hezbollah said it confronted Israeli forces that tried to infiltrate the Lebanese town of Adaisa early Wednesday morning and forced them to withdraw.
Iran described Tuesday's attack on Israel as defensive and solely aimed at its military facilities. Iran's state news agency said three Israeli military bases were the targets of the attack.
Tehran said the attack was a response to Israeli killings of militant group leaders and aggression in Lebanon against Hezbollah, as well as in Gaza.
"Our action is over, unless the Israeli regime decides to provoke further retaliation. In that case, our response will be stronger and stronger," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on Platform X early Wednesday morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate.
"Iran made a big mistake tonight - and they will pay for it," he said at the start of an emergency meeting of the political-security cabinet late on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
Washington said it would work with longtime ally Israel to ensure Iran suffered "severe consequences" for Tuesday's attack, which Israel said involved more than 180 ballistic missiles.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant late Tuesday and said Washington is "well positioned" to defend its interests in the Middle East, the Pentagon said.
"The minister and I expressed our mutual appreciation for Israel's coordinated defense against nearly 200 ballistic missiles launched from Iran and pledged to remain in close contact," Austin said in a post on Xu.
American warships fired a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles that were aimed at Israel, the Pentagon announced. Britain said its forces played a role "in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East", without elaborating.
The Pentagon said Tuesday's Iranian airstrikes were twice as strong as Iran's attack on Israel in April.
"The answer will be painful"
Israel activated its air defenses against the Iranian bombardment on Tuesday, and most of the missiles were intercepted "by Israel and the defense coalition led by the United States," Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on Xu, adding:
"Iran's attack represents a serious and dangerous escalation."
Iranian forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time on Tuesday, and 90% of their missiles successfully hit targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.
In a statement to state media, the General Staff of Iran's armed forces said any Israeli response would be met with "widespread destruction" of Israeli infrastructure.
They also said they would target the regional resources of any Israeli ally that gets involved.
Fears that Iran and the US could be drawn into a regional war have grown with escalating Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, as the conflict in the Gaza Strip rages on for a year.
US President Joe Biden expressed full US support for Israel and described the Iranian attack as "ineffective". Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, supported Biden's position and said the United States would not hesitate to defend its interests against Iran.
"We will act. Iran will soon feel the consequences of its actions. The response will be painful," Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters.
The White House also promised "severe consequences" for Iran, with spokesman Jake Sullivan saying at a briefing in Washington that the United States "will work with Israel to ensure that."
Sullivan did not specify what those consequences might be.
In a statement, French President Emmanuel Macron said he strongly condemned Iran's new attacks on Israel, adding that as a sign of commitment to Israel's security, France mobilized its military resources in the Middle East on Wednesday.
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a meeting on the Middle East conflict for Wednesday, and the European Union has called for an immediate ceasefire.
Nearly 1.900 people have been killed and more than 9.000 wounded in Lebanon in nearly a year of cross-border fighting, most of it in the past two weeks, Lebanese government figures showed on Tuesday.
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