Daily Brief Special: Iran Attacks Israel - April 13, 2024

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.

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  • 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.