It’s a conflict that has been brewing for decades. But in the space of two weeks, tension rose several notches, leading to an unprecedented escalation. On the night of Saturday April 13 to Sunday April 14, Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel from its territory. According to the Israeli army, nearly 300 projectiles were fired during the operation, including 170 drones intercepted without reaching the target country. “A success which achieved all its objectives,” said Tehran. The IDF, for its part, announced that it had destroyed 99% of the projectiles coming from Iran and foiled the attack.
No drone or missile “has penetrated Israeli territory,” assured the army spokesperson. “Together with the United States and other partners, we have succeeded in defending the territory of the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Revolutionary Guards killed in Syria
This unprecedented attack was justified by Tehran as a response to the strike which destroyed an annex of its consulate in Damascus (Syria) two weeks earlier, which Iran attributes to Israel. This bombing killed seven Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, including two generals from the Quds Force, which intervenes outside Iran. This Sunday, the head of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, was pleased: the attack would have made it possible to put “out of service” an “intelligence center and an air base”. These two places were specifically targeted because they were used to carry out the strike which destroyed, on April 1, the Iranian diplomatic building in Syria.
Israel has neither claimed responsibility for this strike nor denied it, but Iran accuses it. Because since the massacre of October 7, the Hebrew state has regularly carried out raids beyond its borders against Tehran’s allies, including Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. Since this strike in Syria, Iran has continued to promise that it would “punish” Israel, raising fears of a regional conflagration in the wake of the war already underway in the Gaza Strip.
An announced operation
Hours before its massive attack on Israel, Iran arrested an “Israeli-linked” ship off the coast of the Arab Emirates on Saturday, with 25 crew members on board. The control of the container ship MSC Aries was carried out by the maritime special forces of the Revolutionary Guards, according to the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC. The Iranian authorities have not indicated whether this operation was linked to the response announced for many days by Iran.
In the space of two weeks, therefore, Iran’s verbal violence against Israel increased in strength… Until Tehran put its threats into action. “The evil regime made a mistake, it must be punished and it will be punished,” warned Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday, referring to Israel. The same day, Joe Biden claimed that Iran “[menaçait] to launch a major attack against Israel”, before declaring on Friday that it expected the attack to take place “soon”. Again on Friday, France called on the French not to go to Iran, Israel or Lebanon, fearing an unprecedented attack.
This Sunday, Iran assured that it had informed the United States in advance of its intention to carry out a “limited” operation against Israel. “We announced to the White House in a message that our operation would be limited, minimal and aimed at punishing the Israeli regime,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein said. Amir-Abdollahian. And if Iran has announced that it considers the matter “closed”, it remains to be seen what position Israel, already mobilized by the conflict against Hamas in Gaza, will adopt.