IRAN’S revenge attack on Israel will be bigger than the hundreds of missiles fired at the country in April, officials claim.
Tehran is plotting its revenge after a series of Israeli assassinations, including the killing of Hamas’ political leader and the October 7 mastermind.
The coming bombardment is set to be even bigger than when the Ayatollah tried to blitz Israel with an unprecedented missile and drone blitz back on April 13.
The tyrant sent 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles across the Middle East, the IDF said.
Tel Aviv had blown up the Iranian embassy in Damascus and killed two generals – as the tit-for-tat strikes escalated and the region threatened to spiral into all-out war.
US spies have now begun to get intelligence that Iran will attack Israel in just a few days time, Axios reported.
The coming strike could also see Hezbollah involved after Israel killed their most senior commander in the Lebanese capital this week.
America is taking precautions to protect its ally and expects “a rough few days”, an official said.
Israeli officials also believe Iran will launch another wide-ranging missile strike on their country.
Iran’s Supreme Leader ordered a “direct attack on Israel” after Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a guesthouse.
Tehran, a staunch backer of Hamas, said it is “Tehran’s duty” to seek “revenge for Haniyeh’s blood”.
The powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps also threatened to target US bases if Biden “interferes” with their revenge strike, blogs linked to the IRGC said.
And Hezbollah’s boss Hassan Nasrallah said his group was preparing a significant attack.
He said: “We are not talking about separate fronts anymore. This is an open campaign on all fronts and there is no doubt [the war] has entered a new phase.”
Former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed said the attack could come via one of Iran’s proxies like Hezbollah, Shia militias in Iraq, or the Houthis in Yemen.
He said that planning is already likely underway and the attack could involve a cyber strike.
He said: “An attack on Israel that results in harm to human life, civilian and strategic infrastructure would lead to a powerful Israeli counter-strike in various arenas and could escalate into a large-scale violent conflict beyond what we have seen so far.
“It is possible that this escalation will be confined to a short period of a few days; however, it cannot be ruled out that a dynamic of further escalation could significantly increase the level of violence and the circle of involved parties.”
Iran’s April attack marked the first time the country struck Israel directly since the start of the conflict.
But almost all of the bombs failed to hit their target with RAF fighter pilots helping shoot them down.
Israel said 99 per cent of the missiles were shot down, but a seven-year-old was injured.
The Ayatollah led prayers on Thursday as he wept over the coffin of Haniyeh at his funeral.
Haniyeh was staying in a building next door to the president’s Sa’dabad Palace as he attended the new leader’s inauguration.
Israeli agents killed Haniyeh with a bomb smuggled into the guesthouse two months ago, the New York Times reported.
The beige secure six-story structure has few windows and showed damage to it in a new photo circulating social media Wednesday.
Iran’s chilling threat came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broadcast speech on Wednesday night.
Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv, the PM said that when it comes to threats against Israel, the country is prepared for any scenario.
He vowed: “Israel will make anyone who is against us pay a very heavy price.”
It cannot be ruled out that… further escalation could significantly increase the level of violence and the circle of involved parties
Avi Melamed
Netanyahu added he “will not give in” to voices calling for the end to the war.
“There has not been a single week when I have not been told domestically and from outside the country: end the war,” he said.
“I did not give in to those voices and I will not give in to them today.”
Other countries said the conflict could spiral into war following the recent assassinations.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the attack escalated the “war in Gaza to a regional level”.
“If the international community does not take action to stop Israel, our region will face much larger conflicts.”
Turkey’s comments come days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to invade Israel.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: “a full-scale war is the only way to a shaky peace in the region.”
Iranian proxies also pledged to make Israel pay immediately following the killing of Haniyeh.
ISRAEL’S Iron Dome helped shoot down 99 per cent of the missile and drones it launched on Saturday. But what is it?
The air defence system is one of the best in the world having successfully intercepted thousands of rockets.
Mobile and fit for all-weather, the Iron Dome is at the forefront of that and was central to fending off Iran’s April 13 missile and drone attack.
Here’s the lowdown on the high tech system.
What is Israel’s Iron Dome?
Iron Dome is a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) short range air defence system.
It is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 2–43 miles away.
It intercepts rockets that are travelling in the direction of urban areas and brings them down – the first system of its kind in the world.
Israel hopes to increase the range of the dome’s interceptions to 250km and make it able to stop rockets coming from two directions.
Developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, it can be operated in all weather conditions including fog, dust storm, low clouds and rain.
From 2011 to 2021, the United States contributed a total of $1.6billion to the Iron Dome defence system, befor another US$1billion was approved by the US Congress in 2022.
How does it work?
The dome is made up of missile batteries which are shaped like giant match boxes and are tilted in the direction of Gaza.
The Iron Dome monitor detects a target using radar and monitors its trajectory.
A control centre then calculates an interception point and then commands a rocket to launch if the foreign missile is heading towards an urban area.
Once in contact with the missile, the rocket explodes and brings it down.
Each launcher contains 20 Tamir Missiles with proximity war heads and there are several batteries positioned around the country.
Since being implemented in 2011 the computer systems have been updated, improved and upgrades to improve the accuracy of the rockets.
