On Tuesday, October 1, 2024, Iran sent 180 hypersonic missiles to Israel around 7:45 p.m. Iran had targeted three Israeli military bases. Although the IRGC claimed that 90% of the missiles hit their targets, the IDF has said that many had been intercepted. The attack was in response to Israel killing the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and Abbas Nilforoshan, the Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC) overseas operations commander, in Beirut on Friday, September 27, 2024. Tension started to heighten between the countries due to the ongoing war in Gaza, the current Israel–Hezbollah conflict, and recently the strike in Beirut. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, gave the green light to launch the attack just hours after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had started to invade southern Lebanon. Iran does not officially recognize Israel as a state and has since formed the Axis of Resistance, an armed alliance that is opposed to both Israel and the United States. Iran has stated that they will no longer attack if Israel does not retaliate.
This article is important because it reports on what both countries have said in regards to the attack. This gives you a better understanding of what happened. This conflict will cause more hostility between countries surrounding Iran and Israel as Jordan has stated they will not allow military aircrafts into their airspace. Also, as Iran focuses on Israel in the west, that can lead to border problems in the east with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Israel could counter Iran’s attack and still be able to protect itself with the Iron Dome. Iran should prepare for an attack from Israel. Iran should start limiting what it shares with the media in regards to this situation because it makes them look weak when they say that 90% of their missiles hit their targets while Israel claims that most were shot down.
This connects to what we are discussing in class through the core assumptions of realism. A state can never be sure of another state’s intentions. Since Iran stated that they will no longer attack Israel. They might think that Israel will not strike back to stop the conflict from continuing. Yet the Israeli people will want justice for the damage that Iran caused.