Iran threatens 'harsh' and 'painful' response in case of direct Israeli retaliation

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz sent a letter to 32 of his colleagues, including Stephen Sejourne.

In this “diplomatic attack,” he calls for “an embargo on Iran's missile program and the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that Israel's “small action” against “Iran's interests” will trigger a “severe response” from his country, according to a press release issued by the president's office this morning.

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After months of deadlock in domestic politics, the US House of Representatives will vote this week on separate aid packages for Ukraine and Israel.

A $60 billion package for Kyiv requested by the Democratic president has been blocked in Congress for months, as has another package for Israel.

“This week, we will examine separate bills, including funding our Israeli allies” and “supporting Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression,” announced Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The Israeli military, expecting a hypothetical response to the Iranian offensive, has vowed to continue its operations in Gaza despite the escalating conflict.

As shown in a video shared by the IDF, the soldiers “continue their operation in the center of the Gaza Strip.”

Yesterday, “throughout the day, warplanes (…) attacked and destroyed the missile launcher along with dozens of terrorist infrastructures,” Hamas says.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Raphael Croci told the UN dedicated to the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhia. During a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the Security Council, he was asked about the possibility of an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We are still concerned about this possibility,” the head of the IAEA responded, clarifying that Iran had shut down its nuclear facilities on Sunday at the time of its attack. According to him, the Iranian facilities were due to reopen on Monday.

“I have decided that the inspectors will not return until the situation is completely calm and we will start again tomorrow” (Tuesday, editor's note), he explained.

In 1981, Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, despite opposition from Washington. In 2018, Israel also admitted to carrying out a secret airstrike eleven years earlier against a nuclear reactor in eastern Syria.

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In a message broadcast on X, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee released a video showing the damage reported at an air base near Navatim after the Iranian attack.

The latter indicated “minor damage to infrastructure” as “two missiles hit an open area, another shot near an airport runway and a fourth shot next to a building under construction that was not in use”.

After Drone and missile strikes Iran staged an attack on Israel from the night of Saturday, April 13 to Sunday, April 14, and Jerusalem's response is still awaited.

Among its potential targets is the Lebanese Hezbollah. Based in Beirut, this Shiite Islamic movement is supported financially and militarily by Iran, allowing it to extend its influence.

It is also considered a terrorist movement by many countries including the United States.

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If the Iranian attack passes, various experts believe that an escalation will not necessarily occur, or at least not in a leading manner. For Bertrand Besanceau, former French ambassador to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, an expert on the Middle East, Saturday's attack by Tehran, although unprecedented between Iran and Israel, was “not really a surprise”.

“Tehran's reaction was at the same time prepared, calculated, measured in terms of means and also the impact was very weak in terms of victims and destruction”, he underlined to BFM Business, after which a child was injured, but no deaths were recorded. .

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Israeli army chief Herzey Halevi made the pledge on Monday 'Retaliation' to Iran's Unprecedented Attack on IsraelDuring a speech to soldiers on a base hit by an Iranian attack.

“Israel will respond to the launch of multiple missiles, cruise missiles and drones across the borders of the State of Israel,” General Halevi said during a visit to the Nevadim base in the country's south.

The military released a short video showing the impact of an Iranian projectile hitting a military base, leaving a shallow crater along the wall.

Hello everyone, welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the Iranian attacks against Israel from the night of Saturday, April 13 to Sunday, April 14.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, called on the international community to “stand united” in the face of “Iranian aggression” as the Jewish state announced a response after it fired 300 drones and missiles toward his country.

On Monday, the Israeli war cabinet reconvened to discuss a possible response, but the outcome of the discussions was not yet known.