Iran Braces For Israeli Attack: Shutters Main Airports, Closes Airspace

Update(1315ET): Is tonight the night of the expected big Israeli retaliation attack? Iran appears to be bracing for new aggression from Israel: Iran has just announced the closure of its airspace, and it has diverted all civilian flights.

There are reports the government has shut down Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport in anticipation of the potential Israeli retaliation:

Iran announced that airports in the western half of the country, including Tehran and Mehrabad, are closed until Thursday except for emergency and certain other flights, according to aviation security specialist Osprey Flight Solutions via WSJ.

Speaking from Doha, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country is not seeking war, but in the scenario that “Israel acts against us we will respond.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to be in meetings with his security cabinet Wednesday to mull potential operations to last night’s Iranian attack which saw some 181 ballistic missiles fired directly at Israel.

Israel’s military claims most were intercepted, and that there was almost no damage or Israeli casualties, but the avalanche of available on-the-ground videos contradict these assertions. Israeli media has cited officials who say retaliation on Iran could include hitting targets like gas or oil rigs, and Iran’s nuclear sites.

“An attack on Iranian oil facilities could devastate the country’s economy, and any of the considered responses could mark another escalation, almost one year into the ongoing war that began when the Hamas terror group attacked Israel in October 2023,” Times of Israel writes.

A correspondent from the same publication has cited another official who says the response will aim to inflict “significant financial damage” and that Israeli leaders feel the strike “must be significant, and it must come soon.”

The security cabinet spent much of Tuesday night in a secure bunker under Jerusalem. By the end of the meeting there was reportedly consensus that Israel’s military would hit back.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first words in the wake of the attack were “Iran made a big mistake tonight, and it will pay for it” and included the vow, “whoever attacks us — we will attack them.”

“The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies. They will understand. We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us, we will attack him,” Netanyahu continued.

Netanyahu met with Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, Mossad director David Barnea, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday:

Axios also suggests in its reporting that a “massive payback” is coming:

Israeli officials staring down all-out regional war tell Axios Israel will launch a “significant retaliation” to Tuesday’s massive missile attack within days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.

An Israeli official told the outlet, “We have a big question mark about how the Iranians are going to respond to an attack, but we take into consideration the possibility that they would go all in, which will be a whole different ball game.”