Israel and its partners thwarted Iran's attack in an "unsurpassed way," but the campaign is not over yet, the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry said.

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US bases near Iran have become 'the American Achilles heel because of their vulnerabilities to attack,' Michael Maloof, ex-Pentagon analyst, told Sputnik.

"Israel is going to be very hard-pressed to be able to defend against that. And that's why the US now is coming in, and that gets the US directly involved. And that could then open up US assets in the region. We [have] got some 35 bases that surround Iran, and they thereby become vulnerable. They were meant to be a deterrence. Clearly, deterrence is no longer on the table here. Now they become the American ‘Achilles heel’ because of their vulnerabilities to attack," Maloof said.

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❗️Operation True Promise against Israel has been completed, Iran does not plan to continue it, the head of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said.

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Air raid sirens are sounding in northern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces

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Key statements by Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri:

▪️The target of Operation True Promise was the information center on the border of Israel and Syria and the Israeli Nevatim air base

▪️ The United States defended Israel in the airspace of Iraq and Jordan, but could not neutralize the operation, and it achieved its goals

▪️If Israel takes measures against Iran on its territory or in other countries, the next operation will be larger

▪️If the US cooperates with Israel in crimes, its bases and personnel in the Middle East will not be safe

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Iran, through Switzerland, has warned the US that American bases will become a military target if Washington supports an Israeli retaliatory strike, Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said.

"We have conveyed a message to America through the Swiss Embassy that American bases will become a military target if they are used in future aggressive actions of the Zionist regime [Israel]. We will consider this as aggression and will act accordingly," Bagheri said on Iranian state television.

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Iran-Israeli conflict 'could easily escalate into something beyond the region,' Michael Maloof, former Pentagon security policy analyst, told Sputnik.

"It's going to depend upon the response from the Israelis, if they go directly into Iran. If Israel were to retaliate, then I think they would engage the more sophisticated missiles and hypersonics potentially if they have them... The escalation could be even ratcheted up that could conceivably bring in other and extend beyond just this region," Maloof added.

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Russia is forced to put into practice the issue of transferring the Geneva discussions on Transcaucasia from Switzerland to another country – Russian Foreign Ministry

The ministry noted that a number of countries have already agreed to provide their territory for meetings of the Geneva discussions on Transcaucasia.

The Geneva Discussions on Transcaucasia are an international forum for ensuring predictability of the situation in the region, as well as maintaining dialogue between Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the one hand with Georgia on the other.

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Israeli planes struck near the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, ambulances are heading to the scene — Sputnik source

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Zelensky could sign a new bill on tightening mobilization in Ukraine within two weeks, with some of the norms entering into force immediately after the publication of the document, and some in a month, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko said.

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Israeli warplanes have been spotted in the sky over cities on the Mediterranean coast in northern Lebanon, including Byblos, Sputnik’s correspondent reports

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The Russian Foreign Ministry has called for restraint in connection with the attack on Israeli territory.

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❗️Key statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding Iran's attack on Israel:

▪️The Russian Foreign Ministry has called for restraint in connection with the attack on Israeli territory.

▪️According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the attack was carried out within the framework of the right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to attacks on Iranian facilities in the region, including a strike on the building of the consular department of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus on April 1, which Russia strongly condemned.

▪️ Due to the position of the Western members of the UN Security Council, it was unable to adequately react to the attack on the Iranian consular mission.

▪️Russia has repeatedly warned that the numerous unresolved crises in the Middle East, primarily in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, which are often fueled by irresponsible and provocative actions, will lead to an increase of tensions.

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Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, Iran, has canceled flights until Monday morning, ISNA news agency reports.

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If Israel attacks, it will be attacked by Iran in response – IRGC Commander

"If the Zionist regime anywhere attacks our interests, our property, our political figures or our citizens, we will attack it in response from the Islamic Republic of Iran," Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami said.

Salami added that the operation was "a great success."

"The targets were very precise and we conducted a limited operation corresponding to the scale of the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime," he claimed.

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NATO has condemned Iran's attack on Israel and called for restraint so the conflict in the Middle East does not get out of control.

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On Sunday, the government will decide on a retaliatory strike in connection with the Iranian attack, an Israeli army spokesman said.

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Ritter: Israel believed that it could launch a strike against Iran and suffer no consequence - that is no longer the case.

"This is deterrence. This means that in the future, if either Israel or the United States plan on carrying out an action against Iran, they have to weigh in the consequences of their actions knowing that Iran has the capacity to reach out and touch any place, any spot, any target in the region in Israel or out of Israel, and there's nothing anybody could do to stop that. This is why president Biden has been on the phone with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, telling him, 'Do not retaliate,'" Scott Ritter, ex-US Marine Corps intelligence officer, told Sputnik.

Sunday morning Mohammad Bagheri, the head of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that operation 'True Promise' against Israel has been completed.

"Operation 'True Promise' was an extraordinarily successful operation, not only for Iran, but indeed for the world, because Iranian deterrence now is a reality that can hold Israel and the United States in check," Ritter concluded.

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❗️In the Kharkov and Sumy regions, Russian troops struck Ukrainian manpower and equipment: Ukrainian forces lost up to 60 servicemen and six units of equipment.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian MoD's daily briefing on the progress of the special military op in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kupyansk area, Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 30 soldiers;

▪️In the DPR, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 470 servicemen. In the southern DPR, Ukraine lost up to 150 soldiers;

▪️ In the Avdeyevka area, Russian forces improved their tactical position, and Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 460 soldiers;

▪️Russian air defenses destroyed three Hammer and JDAM guided bombs, one HIMARS missile, and 41 Ukrainian drones.

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🇮🇱 The Israeli army said that, in response to the attacks, it targeted a large Hezbollah weapons manufacturing facility "deep inside" Lebanese territory.

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