Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Iran vows to 'respond firmly' to Israeli strikes on military sites.

 Extract from ABC News

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

In short:

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has told a news conference Iran is using "all available means to respond firmly and effectively" to Israeli strikes over the weekend. 

One civilian was killed in the attack, Iranian media reported, and four soldiers were killed. 

What's next?

The United Nations Security Council is set to hold a meeting about the Israeli strikes.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says Tehran will "respond firmly and effectively" to Iran's deadly strikes on military sites over the weekend.

"We are using all available means to respond firmly and effectively to the aggression of the Zionist regime," Mr Baghaei told a regular news conference on Monday.

"The nature of our response will depend on the nature of the attack."

On Saturday, Israel conducted air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack on Israel, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

At least four soldiers were killed in the strikes, according to the military, and Iranian media reported on Monday that a civilian was also killed in the attack.

"The martyr Allahverdi Rahimpour, a civilian who was killed near Tehran during the recent attack by the Zionist regime, has been buried," the local Fars news agency reported.

Tasnim news agency also reported the death, saying Mr Rahimpour worked as "a [security] guard in a company" and lived in the city of Nassimshahr south-west of Tehran.

Authorities had not previously reported civilian deaths in the strikes.

Saturday's strikes took place against the backdrop of Israel's ongoing war with Hamas, which expanded in recent weeks to also focus on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Both groups are part of the "axis of resistance" aligned with Iran against Israel.

Iran considering how it will respond to Israel strikes as Middle East tensions flare | The World

Mr Baghaei said a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon had remained the "goal" for Iran.

He further urged the United Nations Security Council, which is set to hold a meeting about the Israeli strikes on Monday, local time, to take a "decisive and firm" stance with regards to the attack.

Iran had called for the meeting to be on Sunday.

During the press conference, Mr Baghaei decried Israel's "abuse" of Iraq's airspace to launch the attack on Iran.

"The Zionist regime does not respect any limits in its law-breaking approach … it has repeatedly violated the airspace of many countries," he said.

Iraq has submitted a complaint to the United Nations over Israel's use of its airspace to strike Iran on Saturday, an Iraqi government spokesperson said on Monday.

Israel says suspected Hamas militants found in Gaza hospital

Israel's military said in a statement on Monday its soldiers had arrested about 100 suspected Hamas militants during a raid in Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. 

"The soldiers apprehended approximately 100 terrorists from the compound, including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians," it said.

"Inside the hospital, they found weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents and in the surrounding area."

Gaza health officials have denied any militant presence at the hospital.

Israel launches fresh strikes on Tyre

Israel launched fresh strikes on Tyre, Lebanese state media said, after the Israeli military told swathes of the southern city to evacuate.

It follows an earlier raid that killed seven people.

The National News Agency (NNA) reported "a series of strikes" on the ancient coastal city, beginning with a raid on a residential apartment.

An AFP video journalist reported thick clouds of smoke covering parts of Tyre, including rising from a building along the seafront.

The Israeli army had earlier told residents in parts of central Tyre to leave immediately, warning it would attack Hezbollah targets there.

"Hezbollah's activities force the (Israeli military) to act against it forcefully," military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, urging residents to "head north".

An accompanying map showed large swathes of the city marked in red, including an area abutting a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The union of Tyre municipalities received a phone call in Arabic, apparently from the Israeli military, urging residents to evacuate several streets in the area, a municipal source told AFP.

The NNA said the union instructed the civil defence and emergency personnel to use loudspeakers to urge residents to leave, "which created a state of panic".

The fresh strikes came after a raid early on Monday in the centre of the city killed seven people and wounded 17 others, according to a health ministry statement.

Tyre was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving parts of the centre in ruins.

AFP

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