Iran attacks with a series of ballistic missiles, Israel closes airspace

According to RIA Novosti on April 14, the IRNA news agency said that Iran launched dozens of drones and then launched the first series of ballistic missiles at targets deep inside Israeli territory.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said it attacked Israel under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

"The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in exercising the inalienable right to self-defense provided for in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and in response to continued military aggression... carried out a number of attacks on military bases," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations has vowed to take stern action against Israel if it "repeats the same mistake".

Earlier, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, confirmed in a press release that dozens of drones were launched from Iran towards Israel.

The Israeli Air Force is on high alert and is tracking the drones, noting that they will take several hours to reach Israeli territory. Hagari added that the IDF will update the public if there are any additional attacks that require separate warnings and that there will be GPS disruptions as the military intercepts the drones.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Israeli military has begun jamming GPS signals in parts of the country in an attempt to thwart Iranian drone attacks.

"The IDF and the Israeli Air Force are implementing a plan that we have prepared in advance. As part of this plan, GPS will be jammed in certain areas," Hagari said.

Israel relies on multiple layers of its own and US defense systems to repel an attack, he added, but stressed that "the defense system is not airtight."

The New York Times quoted an anonymous Israeli official as saying that dozens of Israeli planes were in the air and ready to shoot down Iranian planes.

Meanwhile, also in the early morning of April 14, the Hezbollah group based in Lebanon also announced that it had launched dozens of Katyusha rockets targeting the air defense headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Kaila barracks area on the Golan Heights.

Israel announced that it will close its airspace from 1:00 a.m. (local time) on April 14.

Relations between the two countries have recently escalated after Iran accused Israel of carrying out a missile strike that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria on April 1. The attack killed 11 people, including seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

After the incident, Iran announced a strong response to Israel, and warned that no Israeli embassy in the world is safe./.