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Israel wants war, but not ready for ‘a major war’ with Iran: Analyst
Foad Izadi, associate professor at Tehran University, has told Al Jazeera that Iranian analysts believe that Israel is not yet ready for a full-scale war with Iran.
“I think the Israelis are planning a major war against Iran, but not at this time,” Izadi said.
“Remember that happened to Lebanon. The Israelis attacked Lebanon after one year of preparation. They started a genocide in Gaza. They continued with that, and then after 11 months of starting the genocide in Gaza they started to attack Lebanon,” he said.
“They decided to postpone that because they needed time to plan that attack. The analysis in Iran is that the Israelis are not ready for a major military confrontation with Iran at this time,” he added.
“They may do it after one year or two years. I think the Israelis want to be in perpetual war, continuous war.”
Iran ‘ready to respond’ to Israeli aggression: Report
Iran is “ready to respond” to Israel’s attacks on the country, reports the semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing “informed sources”.
The agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reports the sources as saying there is “no doubt” Israel will “receive a proportionate response to any action”.
Tehran residents to start working week shortly
Just a reminder that the sun is due to rise in about half an hour in the Iranian capital. Saturday is the first day of the working week in Iran and residents of the capital and across the country will soon start to go to their jobs.
Daylight is expected to bring more clarity as questions over the scale of the attack, casualties and targets remain.
Iraq closes airspace, citing security concerns
Iraq has closed its airspace, citing security concerns, according to an official notice issued by its civil aviation authority. The closure, according to the notice, is set to expire at 11:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (4 a.m. ET).
It follows a similar decision by neighboring Iran’s civil aviation authority.
Air defenses engaged near Tehran, state media reports
Iranian officials said blasts heard around the country early on Saturday were related to air defenses deployed “in several areas around Tehran and the country,” state news agency IRNA reported.
Several explosions were heard west of Tehran around 2:15 a.m. local time (about 7 p.m. ET Friday), according to IRNA.
The agency said the situation in the capital remained “normal” despite the explosions.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency earlier reported that several explosions were heard west of the Iranian capital.
Several explosions were also heard in Tehran on Saturday morning local time, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
