Iran fires nearly 200 missiles at Israel, Tel Aviv vows payback

Iran fired a barrage of almost 200 missiles at Israel including hypersonic weapons for the first time, its state media reported on Tuesday, which the Revolutionary Guards said targeted "three military bases" around Tel Aviv and others elsewhere.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media platform X that Tehran's "action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation".

The Revolutionary Guards earlier said the attack was in response to Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.

Israeli medics reported two people lightly injured by shrapnel. In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho "when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him", the city's governor Hussein Hamayel said.

It was Iran's second direct attack on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Joint response

The United States said it was discussing a joint response after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel, warning Tehran of "severe consequences".

Israel vowed it would make Iran "pay" after the attack and pledged to immediately strike "the Middle East powerfully".

President Joe Biden said the US was "fully supportive" of Israel after the missile attack, adding that he would discuss a response with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked by reporters what the response towards Iran would be, Biden replied: "That's in active discussion right now."

UN chief Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, led international calls to stem the "broadening conflict in the Middle East", saying in a statement: "This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire."

Tehran's warning

Iran's top military boss has drawn a line in the sand, saying if Israel attacked, Tehran's response would be devastating.

General Mohammad Bagheri said the missile barrage was just the start. Next time, he warned, the strikes will be even more intense, targeting all of Israel's infrastructure.

Bagheri said that Iran had held back after the US and EU promised a ceasefire in Gaza following the killing of Haniyeh.

But after Israel took out Hezbollah's Nasrallah and Iran's own General Abbas Nilforoushan, Bagheri made it clear that Tehran's patience had run out.

While Iran-aligned groups across the region had already been drawn into Israel's war in Gaza, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.