{"id":30270,"date":"2024-04-19T08:38:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T08:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/19\/what-we-know-about-israels-strike-in-iran\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T08:38:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T08:38:44","slug":"what-we-know-about-israels-strike-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/19\/what-we-know-about-israels-strike-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Know About Israel\u2019s Strike in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/19\/multimedia\/19mideast-crisis-what-we-know-qjlk\/19mideast-crisis-what-we-know-qjlk-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"What We Know About Israel\u2019s Strike in Iran\" title=\"What We Know About Israel\u2019s Strike in Iran\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel struck Iran early on Friday, according to officials from both countries, in what appeared to be its first military response to the Iranian attack on Israel last weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The strike was the latest in a cycle of retaliation between the two foes that has alarmed world leaders, who fear that back-and-forth attacks could erupt into a broader war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here is a look at what we know about the strike and its implications.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5c621b0a\">What did Israel strike?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iranian officials said on Friday that an Israeli strike hit a military air base near Isfahan, a city in central Iran. The scale and method of the attack were unclear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iranian officials said a separate Israeli attack was thwarted in Tabriz, a region roughly 500 miles north of Isfahan. Iranian news agencies said explosions were heard near both cities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The state media in Syria, a major Iranian ally that borders Israel, said also that Israeli missiles had hit air-defense positions in southern Syria on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military declined to comment.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-64d86fc0\">Why did Israel strike?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel attacked Iran in retaliation for a large Iranian attack on Israeli territory last weekend that included <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/14\/world\/middleeast\/iran-israel-drones-attack.html\" title=\"\">more than 300 missiles and drones.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That attack frightened Israelis but caused little damage and few injuries because nearly all of Iran\u2019s weapons were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, Britain and Jordan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That Iranian attack was launched in response to an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/01\/world\/middleeast\/iran-commanders-killed-syria-israel.html\" title=\"\">Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria<\/a> on April 1, which killed seven Iranian officials. Israeli officials did not warn the United States of the Damascus strike and some have since privately conceded that it was a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/17\/world\/middleeast\/iran-israel-attack.html\" title=\"\">serious miscalculation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-51b8b6\">Will Iran retaliate?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was not clear whether or not Iran would retaliate, but initial reaction in Israel and Iran, where some officials and state-backed media sought to downplay the strike\u2019s severity, suggested that its response may be muted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iranian state TV broadcast footage of Isfahan looking peaceful, and reported that military and nuclear facilities there were undamaged. One newsreader told viewers the strike was \u201cnot a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials in Israel said the strike had been designed to avoid escalating tensions. But some celebrated. The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itamarbengvir\/status\/1781195747255255220\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">used on social media<\/a> a Hebrew phrase in apparent reference to Iran that roughly translates to \u201cweak\u201d or \u201cpathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-1e3806f3\">Why is Isfahan important?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Isfahan is one of Iran\u2019s most famous and historic cities, known for its <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/01\/06\/arts\/design\/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html?searchResultPosition=9\" title=\"\">beautiful turquoise and purple tiled mosques<\/a>, picturesque arched bridges and Grand Bazaar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The area is also home to four small nuclear research facilities and is a center of Iranian weapons production. Many of the country\u2019s Shahab medium-range missiles \u2014 which can reach Israel and beyond \u2014 are assembled there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The province of Isfahan also contains the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/04\/13\/world\/middleeast\/iran-nuclear-natanz.html\" title=\"\">Natanz uranium enrichment site<\/a>, as well as an air base that is home to a fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats. They were purchased by the U.S.-backed Iranian government before the 1979 Islamic revolution, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-israel-mideast-tensions-4-19-2024-a7ccbae2e2844bab089e8e4377a24ddb\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-42e049b4\">Why are world leaders so worried about a war between Iran and Israel?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the past week, President Biden and other world leaders have urged Israel not to respond to last weekend\u2019s Iranian missile attack. They have said they fear that an Israeli response could escalate into an all-out war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">World leaders advised Israel that it should view the interception of nearly all of the Iranian missiles and drones as a strategic victory. That is especially so, they have said, because it was achieved by an international coalition including Arab countries, which have historically not been inclined to come to Israel\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has also been fighting allies of Iran on two other fronts \u2014 Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon \u2014 for the last six months. Israel\u2019s conduct of the war in Gaza, where more than 33,000 people have been killed and famine has begun to set in, has left it increasingly isolated diplomatically.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/19\/world\/middleeast\/israel-strikes-iran-why.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel struck Iran early on Friday, according to officials from both countries, in what appeared to be its first military response to the Iranian attack on Israel last weekend. The strike was the latest in a cycle of retaliation between the two foes that has alarmed world leaders, who fear that back-and-forth attacks could erupt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/19\/multimedia\/19mideast-crisis-what-we-know-qjlk\/19mideast-crisis-what-we-know-qjlk-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19606,5558,2335],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30272,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30270\/revisions\/30272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}