Nine Iranian missiles breached Israel’s air defence, airbases hit
At least nine Iranian ballistic missiles managed to elude Israel’s elaborate air defence system and the fire from allied militaries in the region.
Five projectiles hit the Nevatim airbase, damaging a C-130 transport aircraft, a runway and empty storage facilities. An additional four ballistic missiles hit the Negev airbase, but there were no reports of significant damage.
The Aero-3 is a very new system for the Israelis. It was the first time it was deployed. It’s designed to bring down ballistic missiles. The fact that nine actually got through is going to be a cause of concern for the Israelis. We’re hearing there is a post-mortem going on about the effectiveness of that Arrow-3 defence system. But the Israelis publicly are talking about the fact the systems were all successful.
And you’ve got two key divisions going on Israel’s war cabinet. The first one comes from the far right of the government coalition. They want to see a retaliatory strike. But then you have people who are looking to this as an opportunity to build a coalition against Iran. Israel doesn’t have the kind of support it needs internationally to be able to mount a key retaliatory strike.
West should ‘appreciate Iran’s restraint’ towards Israel
“Instead of making accusations against Iran, [Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the … war crimes committed by Israel” in its war in Gaza, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani says.
Kanani said Western countries “should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months”.
‘Maritime violations’: Iran says it seized vessel with links to Israel
The Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries vessel was seized on Saturday by Iran because of “maritime law violations”, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani says. There is no doubt the vessel is linked to Israel, he added.
“Iran strives to create a safe shipping environment in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf. The vessel was diverted into Iran’s territorial waters as a result of it violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities,” Kanani said.
