FLASH UPDATE: The Biden White House made it clear that the United States would not participate in any offensive action against Iran should Israel choose to retaliate against Iran for the 300 drones and missiles the Islamic Republic launched against it on Saturday. “We don’t seek a war with Iran. We’re not looking for escalation here,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told NBC on April 14.
Air-raid sirens sounded across Israel Saturday night (April 13, 2024) around 2 a.m. Jerusalem time announcing Iran’s long-anticipated direct attack in Israel.
According to reporting by the New York Times, the weapons that Iran used were more sophisticated than those that Hamas (which Iran finances) and other groups have recently fired at Israel. Saturday night’s weapons “can travel much farther, and some of them can travel much faster,”
Previously, Israel had faced aerial attacks from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose rocket arsenal includes short-range (12 to 25 miles) and somewhat inaccurate 122-milimeter rockets of the Grad family, as well as Syrian-made M-302 rockets with a range of about 100 miles. Hamas also has Fajr-5 rockets from Iran and a similar, locally made version of the Fajr-5, both with a range of about 50 miles, reported the Times' Jin Yu Young.
In Saturday’s attack, 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles and 110 surface-to-surface missiles were fired toward Israel, according to Israeli military officials. Most of the launches were from Iran, though a small portion came from Iraq and Yemen, the officials said, according to Ms. Young’s report.
Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iran’s military at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin, said in a post on X that Iran is likely using a cruise missile developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Paveh 351. It has a range of more than 1,200 miles — plenty to reach Israel from Iran.
Hezbollah — an Iranian ally — fired rockets at an Israeli military site yesterday. In response, Israel said its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
According to our friend Stephen Bryen author of Weapons And Security on Substack, 331 missiles and drones launched by Iran at Israel:
· 185 out of 185 Kamikaze Drones were shot down
· 103 out of 110 Ballistic Missiles were shot down
· 36 out of 36 Cruise Missiles were shot down
· 7 Ballistic Missile impacts have been recorded on Israeli territory
In a combat first an Israeli antiballistic missile achieved a extra atmospheric kill on an Iranian ballistic missile.
This live combat engagement between Iran and Irael is the most significant package of combat advances since the U.S. went into Afghanistan in 2001. It has literally never been done before, with the drone swarm, the cruise missiles, and the MRBM/IRBM ballistic missiles with a series of successful live intercepts. The Israeli Defense Forces is the first military to attempt such a defense using its intended, networked, coordinate purpose in a live, real-world attack scenario.
Editor’s Note: This is the system Democrats have ridiculed as “Star Wars” and steadfastly opposed to defend America from ballistic missile attack.
Multiple media outlets report that the United States, the United Kingdon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and France contributed to the defensive operations against the Iranian attack.
Although there were social media posts claiming a successful Iranian cyberattack on Israel’s electric grid these reports were apparently fake news as no blackouts were reported as verified by local or international media in Israel.
However, the night was not without its setbacks for Israel.
A senior official in the Biden administration told the NBC network that US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their telephone conversation that while the American commitment to defend Israel is an ironclad commitment, the United States will not participate in offensive actions against Iran.
The planned Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran was reportedly called off by Prime Minister Netanyahu following that phone call with Biden.
Separately, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told NBC News, "The President's been clear: We don't want to see this escalate, we're not looking for a wider war with Iran.”
This forces Israel to remain in a defensive posture. Rather than seek out and destroy Iran’s capacity to launch further strikes the Israelis must stay on alert and in the dangerous position of having their antimissile systems swarmed, worn down and eventually overwhelmed as Iranian attacks come in faster than the Israelis can replenish their defenses.
Lending credence to that analysis, Arab affairs correspondent Zvi Yehezkeli of Israel National News claims that Israeli deterrence has been worn down over multiple conflicts, leading to the Iranian attack.
Given the extensive network of Iranian agents known to have penetrated the Biden administration whose presence continues to be tolerated Biden’s demand that Israel call-off offensive operations comes as no surprise.
And the Israelis have wisely avoided putting themselves in the position of having to notify the United States of their intentions, when an Iranian agent of influence named Ariane Tabatabai sits as chief of staff for the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, Christopher Maier.
Ira Stoll put up a post on Substack that is definitely worth reading and offers some very useful insight into this conflict:
American weakness has a cost. Here is President Biden on April 12, 2024, in question and answers after remarks to the National Action Network Convention:
Q Mr. President, what is your message to Iran in this moment?
THE PRESIDENT: “Don’t.”
As Senator Lindsey Graham put it in a post on X, “Every time he says ‘don’t,’ they do.”
War with Iran is inevitable, not because we or the Israelis want it, but because the Iranians want it. A war is necessary to fulfill the Shia religious belief that an Armageddon-like war with the West will prompt the appearance of the 12th Iman and the worldwide victory of Islam. Against that backdrop one must conclude that letting the Iranians choose the weapons used, and the time and place of future attacks is a grave mistake.
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for then-Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry formerly a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.