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Israel Strikes Iran Military Targets

Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Israel Strikes Iran Military Targets

Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Part of the city skyline is pictured at dawn after several explosions were heard in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday, saying it was retaliating against Tehran's strikes on Israel this month.

Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in the capital and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2 a.m.

Before dawn, Israel's public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed and that the operation was over.

Iran said its air defense system successfully countered Israel's attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam with "limited damage" to some locations.

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's retaliation for a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, in which around 200 missiles were fired at Israel and one person was killed in the West Bank.

Tensions between arch rivals Israel and Iran have escalated since Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group based in Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has been supported by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, also backed by Iran.

Fears that Iran and the US would be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel's intensifying assault on Hezbollah since last month, including airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and a ground operation, as well as its year-old war in Gaza.
"In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran," Israel's military said in a statement announcing the attack.

The military said later it had completed its "targeted" attacks in Iran, striking truck missile manufacturing facilities and surface-to-aerial equipment, adding its planes had safely returned home.

"If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond," the military said.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly warned Israel against any attack.
"Iran reserves the right to respond to any aggression, and there is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes," the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Saturday, citing sources.

Videos carried by Iranian media showed air defenses continuously firing at apparently incoming projectiles in central Tehran, without saying which sites were coming under attack.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps bases that were attacked were not damaged.

A spokesperson for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said flights on all routes were cancelled until further notice, state news agency IRNA reported. Neighboring Iraq also suspended all flights until further notice, its state news agency said.

Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other security officials had closely followed the operation at the military's command and control center in Tel Aviv.

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New Orleans Attack Suspect Acted Alone, Supported ISIS, FBI Says

Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
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New Orleans Attack Suspect Acted Alone, Supported ISIS, FBI Says

Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)

A US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers had pledged allegiance to ISIS, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday.

The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan.

He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31, and posted five videos on Facebook between 1.29 a.m. and 3.02 a.m. on the morning of the attack in which he said he supported ISIS, the extremist militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI said.

In the first video, Jabbar explains he had previously planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the media coverage would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.

Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined ISIS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.

"This was an act of terrorism," Raia said. "It was premeditated and an evil act."

New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game that had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year's Day tradition would take place on Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League's Super Bowl next month.

The FBI said there appeared to be no link between the attack in New Orleans and the episode in Las Vegas on the same day in which a Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20.

The injured victims in the New Orleans attack included two police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect, taking place a mere three hours into the new year on Bourbon Street in the historic French Quarter. At least 15 people were killed, including the suspect, the FBI said.

Among the victims were the mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.

Witnesses described a horrifying scene.

"There were people everywhere," Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. "You just heard this squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and then the people screaming and debris - just metal - the sound of crunching metal and bodies."

Meanwhile, authorities in other US cities said they had boosted security, including at Trump Tower and Times Square in New York City, adding that there were no immediate threats.

In Washington, police also said they had increased their presence as the capital prepares to host three major events this month: Congress' Jan. 6 certification of US President-elect Donald Trump's presidential election win, the Jan. 9 state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter, and Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

The FBI said an ISIS flag was found on the trailer hitch of the rented vehicle involved in the New Orleans attack.

US President Joe Biden condemned what he called a "despicable" act.

Public records showed Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston.

Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 until January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015 until July 2020, an Army spokesperson said. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service.