Sirens sounded in Haifa and other parts of northern Israel in the first attack since the April 8 Iran-US truce.
Tel Aviv was expecting these attacks and had been put on high alert as were US forces in the Middle East region according to CENTCOM.
Donald Trump, who had earlier requested surgical strikes in Lebanon, was also informed of the developments. “I would like to see Lebanon experience a better life. I’d like to see a more surgical strike against Hezbollah,” Trump said in an interview with NBC Friday that aired Sunday (6/7).
“We will continue the attacks,” say the Revolutionary Guards
In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that “this operation is not a passing event, but rather the beginning of a whole week of continuous attacks.”
“Waves of missiles and drones will continue to be fired around the clock for the next seven days, until the enemy is deterred and stops his crimes,” it says.
“Any targeting of Iranian soil will be met with a devastating and overwhelming response beyond all expectation,” he adds.
Iran: “Legitimate targets, US, Israel and their allies”
In fact, Tehran’s strikes had been foretold by high-ranking members of its leadership, while shortly after the attacks began, Abbas Araghchi published on X a photo with a collage of the Iranian and Lebanese flags.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the naval blockade against Iran and Washington’s support for Israel have made US and Israeli “assets” in the region “legitimate targets”.
He said Iran’s armed forces have full freedom to respond. Ghalibaf also accused the US and Israel of ignoring ceasefire commitments and diplomacy, arguing that their actions show they “only understand the language of power”.
For his part, a senior member of the Iranian parliament earlier promised a “painful and decisive response” to Israel’s airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“We will give a decisive and painful response to the attack of the Zionist regime on the suburbs. This rabid dog needs to be disciplined and put in its place. Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight,” Ibrahim Rezai writes on X. Iran considers all of Israel “occupied territories”.
Israeli strikes in Beirut
The dangerous ignition occurred a few hours after the Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold, on Sunday (6/7), killing two people and injuring 20.