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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.”