Middle East enters dangerous new phase with Iran's drone and missile attack on Israel

Israel and allies including the U.S., U.K. and France managed to mostly foil an unprecedented attack by Iran on the Jewish state.

The Islamic Republic fired more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel on Saturday evening. Almost all were intercepted before they reached Israeli airspace and there were no fatalities reported. A 10-year-old girl in Israel was badly injured by falling shrapnel, while an army base was lightly damaged.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he condemned the assault — the first from Iranian soil against Israel — in the strongest terms and Israeli officials warned it was “a severe and dangerous escalation” from Tehran.

The White House and European officials urged Israel to show restraint as they try to prevent a direct conflict with Iran, which could hit the global economy and send oil and gas prices higher. Biden’s especially keen to avoid that in an election year.

Iran promised an attack against Israel after its embassy compound in Syria was hit by missiles on April 1, killing seven Iranian officers. Saturday night’s assault was a legitimate response, it said.

Tehran said there would be no further attacks as long as Israel didn’t retaliate aggressively. It warned of “considerably more severe” strikes if Israel chose that option.

“We see this operation as achieving a complete result and there’s no intention to continue,”, the chief of staff of Iran’s military, Mohammad Bagheri, told state TV on Sunday.

The attacks were flagged to the extent that Iranian state media announced the firing of drones several hours before they were due to enter Israeli territory. Many Western diplomats said that was to ensure the damage was limited and the casualties minimized.

Stock markets in Israel, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East fell on Sunday, but only slightly.

“Iran designed its retaliation to cause maximum symbolism, but minimum damage,” said Ziad Daoud, chief emerging-markets economist for Bloomberg Economics. “By itself, it shouldn’t move markets. But if it triggers an Israeli counter-response, then we’re spiraling into somewhere very dangerous. Key to what happens next is whether the U.S. can restrain the Israeli reaction.”

...continued

swipe to next page