Daily Brief Special: Iran Attacks Israel - April 13, 2024
U.S. and Israeli officials, as well as Iranian media, report that Iran launched drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel just before 5pm Eastern U.S. time (midnight Israel time) today.
8:41pm Eastern: Reports now suggest, contrary to previous reporting, that U.S. President Joe Biden will not make a televised address on the Iran attack tonight.
6:39pm Eastern: The Iranian mission to the United Nations has released a statement saying Iran's retaliatory strike against Israel should be considered concluded, but warning that any further Israeli military response would be met in kind.
6:24pm Eastern: Reports cite U.S. military officials as saying that U.S. forces have intercepted multiple drones launched by Iran before the drones reached Israeli airspace.
5:56pm Eastern: Iranian media reports that Iran has launched a "first wave" of ballistic missiles at Israel. Analysts say ballistic missiles would likely take 10-15 minutes to travel from Iran to Israel, compared to the 1-2 hours for cruise missiles and several hours for drones.
5:33pm Eastern: U.S. and Israeli officials, as well as Iranian media, report that Iran launched drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel just before 5pm Eastern U.S. time (midnight Israel time) today.
- The possibility of such an attack has been anticipated for almost two weeks following an April 1 Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed an Iranian general and several other military officers.
- Iranian officials said that Iran would retaliate for the April 1 airstrike, and Israel has warned that it would respond with action directly against Iran if a retaliatory strike was launched directly from Iranian territory, which today's drone and missile attack was.
- Israeli officials say Iran has launched more than 100 drones and a yet-unknown number of missiles on multiple courses toward Israel. The drones are expected to take several hours to reach Israel, while the missiles are expected to take 1-2 hours.
- Reports note that airspace over most countries in the region has been closed due to the attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden will reportedly address the nation this evening from the Oval Office.Reports now suggest that U.S. President Joe Biden will not make a televised address on the Iran attack tonight.- Additional updates will be posted on dailybrief.net as events warrant.